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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President, Dana White, has been facing criticism for his recent booking of Darren Till vs. Kelvin Gastelum, currently scheduled for the UFC 244 pay-per-view (PPV) event this November in New York.
That’s because White is the same promoter who claimed Till was pushed too hard, too soon en route to consecutive losses atop the 170-pound weight class, while also allowing “The Gorilla” to make his middleweight debut against the No. 4-ranked Gastelum.
“He said, ‘That’s the fight,’” White told reporters at Tuesday night’s “Contender Series” media scrum. “We went to him and said, ‘Are you sure this is the fight you want? He’s moving up, are you sure Gastelum is the fight?’ He says, ‘That’s the fight I want.’ Love it.”
Till (17-2-1) is still just 26 years old, which sounds young for a combatant who’s already racked up eight bouts under the UFC banner, including his welterweight title fight against Tyron Woodley at UFC 228 last September.
As for Gastelum (15-4, 1 NC), who boasts wins over the likes of Michael Bisping and Ronaldo Souza, among others, he’s looking to rebound from his unanimous decision loss to newly-crowned interim middleweight titleholder, Israel Adesanya, at UFC 236 back in April.
Anyone picking Till for the upset?