Tag: Darren Till

Darren Till Clears Visa Hurdles For UFC 244, Jared Cannonier On Standby Just In Case

While the mixed martial arts (MMA) community was consumed with the possibility that this weekend’s UFC 244 main event was in jeopardy, it was overlooked that the co-main event has been having issues as well. Darren Till and Kelvin Gastelum are slated to meet at middleweight in the Madison Square Garden co-headliner Saturday night. However, […]

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While the mixed martial arts (MMA) community was consumed with the possibility that this weekend’s UFC 244 main event was in jeopardy, it was overlooked that the co-main event has been having issues as well.

Darren Till and Kelvin Gastelum are slated to meet at middleweight in the Madison Square Garden co-headliner Saturday night. However, according to MMA insider @TalkMMA on Twitter, Till has been dealing with some visa issues ahead of the event.

In a follow-up report from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Till’s visa issues have been squared away, and he’s expected to arrive in New York City on Thursday.

Till’s issues with his visa were reportedly linked to his recent arrest in the Canary Islands. While things seem to be all clear for Till vs. Gastelum this weekend, the UFC has a backup plan just in case. ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reports that top-ranked middleweight Jared Cannonier is in training, and is currently in New York, in case something goes wrong.

The Till vs. Gastelum matchup is one of the most anticipated on the card. It will be the Englishman’s debut at middleweight, and a huge accomplishment for Gastelum if he’s able to hand the talented striker his third-ever loss.

What do you make of the UFC having Cannonier on standby in case Till is unable to make the trip?

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Kelvin Gastelum Predicts First-Round KO Of Darren Till

Kelvin Gastelum plans on reminding the world just how good he is when he takes on Darren Till. Gastelum welcomes Till to the middleweight division when they meet in the co-main event of UFC 244 this weekend at Madison Square Garden, New York. It promises to be an explosive matchup between two of the best […]

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Kelvin Gastelum plans on reminding the world just how good he is when he takes on Darren Till.

Gastelum welcomes Till to the middleweight division when they meet in the co-main event of UFC 244 this weekend at Madison Square Garden, New York. It promises to be an explosive matchup between two of the best strikers in the sport today.

And Gastelum, in particular, is hungry to make a statement especially coming off his unanimous decision loss to current champion Israel Adesanya earlier this year:

“I got to go out here and make a statement,” he said in a recent interview. “Put a stamp on Darren Till. Unfortunately, he’s the one that’s in my way and I got to put him out in devastating fashion so I can make the world remember who I am.”

Considering the back-and-forth nature of his fight with Adesanya at UFC 236, it is entirely possible that a win against Till gives the Mexican-American another shot at the title in the future.

It will be even more so the case if he does it with a finish and that’s what Gastelum is predicting as he believes he’ll get things done as early as the first round:

“I’m predicting a first-round knockout,” he added. “I feel very confident in my skills and preparation. After having gone through a war, you only level up and I feel like I have leveled up and man, it’s going to be very hard to beat me.”

Who do you have winning the UFC 244 co-main event?

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Robert Whittaker Paying Close Attention To Gastelum vs. Till At UFC 244

The UFC’s middleweight division is on fire at the moment. With a new champion in Israel Adesanya sitting atop the mountain; challengers such as Kelvin Gastelum, Darren Till, Paulo Costa, and Robert Whittaker now wait as potential title challengers. Whittaker comes off a knockout loss to “Stylebender,” dropping the 185-pound title to the Nigerian-born striker. […]

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The UFC’s middleweight division is on fire at the moment. With a new champion in Israel Adesanya sitting atop the mountain; challengers such as Kelvin Gastelum, Darren Till, Paulo Costa, and Robert Whittaker now wait as potential title challengers.

Whittaker comes off a knockout loss to “Stylebender,” dropping the 185-pound title to the Nigerian-born striker. As for Gastelum and Till, they’ll face off at UFC 244 on pay-per-view (PPV). Adesanya is believed to be gearing up to make his first title defense against Costa in 2020. Speaking to Submission Radio recently, Whittaker discussed the current layout of the middleweight division.

“Bobby Knuckles” said he’ll be paying close attention to Gastelum vs. Till in November, as the winner could very well be his next opponent.

“Yeah, certainly I’m gonna be watching it closely, cause they’re very likely opponents in the future. But I would have to say, I would have to lean towards Gastelum, because I think he’s a super underrated fighter in the middleweight division.

“But he’s very sneaky in his approach to closing the distance and his approach in landing the strikes. He’s quite quick. We’ll have to see how Till makes the transition to middleweight. That’s always a big question mark for me, watching guys jump up. So, I’ll have to lean towards Gastelum at this point.”

After seeing Whittaker’s knockout loss to Adesanya, Gastelum has come out and claimed he’d drop the Australian like “a sack of potatoes” if they fought. This kind of trash talk doesn’t come as a surprise to Whittaker in this day and age.

“Nah, I’m not surprised. The game and the culture around it, is everyone just wants to shit on each other. And yeah, it’s sad. It’s sad that people have to try and shit on each other to move up in the world. Like, I think I’ve shown, you don’t have to do that. But maybe he would have. We’ll see. We’re still quite young, both me and him, and I’m sure our paths will cross.”

Whittaker doesn’t plan on taking too much time off to recover from his loss to Adesanya either, as he claims he’s eying an early 2020 return to action.

“We’ll see what the division does. Like, I gotta see the other guys fights conclude, but February, March next year looks pretty good.”

Do you think Whittaker will fight the winner of Gastelum and Till next?

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Darren Till Has ‘Unfinished Business’ At Welterweight

Darren Till is still open to fighting at welterweight in the future. The Englishman is coming off of back-to-back losses where he was submitted to Tyron Woodley at UFC 238 for the title and then was knocked out to Jorge Masvidal at UFC London. In his next fight, Till will move up to middleweight to […]

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Darren Till is still open to fighting at welterweight in the future.

The Englishman is coming off of back-to-back losses where he was submitted to Tyron Woodley at UFC 238 for the title and then was knocked out to Jorge Masvidal at UFC London. In his next fight, Till will move up to middleweight to take on Kelvin Gastelum in the co-main event of UFC 244. 

Speaking to media in a pre-fight interview, Darren Till said he is open to going back down to welterweight in the future. 

“I still have unfinished business at welterweight,” Till said (via MMA Junkie). “So let me play out this next year. … I’m not looking past Kelvin, but let me see what happens this year.”

Although the weight cut has bene hard on Darren Till, he still wants to fight at 170-pounds. He has, however, missed weight twice at welterweight. But, he insists he can make weight with ease as evident by the past two fights and wants to return to 170 as he has a few people he wants to fight still.

“I’ve still got a few names at welterweight who I want to take out, so it’s not impossible to go back down,” Till said. “I can do it. No one cuts weight like me … no one. So I can do it, to answer it. Really I have unfinished business.”

That can all be thrown out the window though by the outcome with this Kelvin Gastelum fight. Should he win, he would be a top-five middleweight and be right in the title conversation, where he could be one win away. 

Regardless, Darren Till remains adamant he will fight at welterweight again. 

Do you want to see Darren Till fight at welterweight again?

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Darren Till Says Colby Covington Is An Idiot, But A ‘Terrific Fighter’

Darren Till is looking past Colby Covington’s antics to give him props as a fighter. Covington is scheduled to challenge Kamaru Usman for the UFC welterweight title. The championship clash will headline UFC 245 inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Ve…

Darren Till is looking past Colby Covington’s antics to give him props as a fighter. Covington is scheduled to challenge Kamaru Usman for the UFC welterweight title. The championship clash will headline UFC 245 inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Dec. 14. It’ll be Covington’s first title bout since his interim championship […]

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Darren Till: ‘Colby Covington Is Actually A Terrific Fighter’

Not many fighters credit Colby Covington’s ability inside the Octagon, as they’re usually left hitting back at “Chaos” for his trash-talk. However, former UFC welterweight title challenger Darren Till has taken a different approach. Speaking to media during a pre-fight scrum, ahead of his Octagon return at UFC 244, Till explained that Covington is “actually […]

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Not many fighters credit Colby Covington’s ability inside the Octagon, as they’re usually left hitting back at “Chaos” for his trash-talk. However, former UFC welterweight title challenger Darren Till has taken a different approach.

Speaking to media during a pre-fight scrum, ahead of his Octagon return at UFC 244, Till explained that Covington is “actually a terrific fighter,” but maintains the American Top Team (ATT) product is still “an idiot,” but a terrific fighter nonetheless. (H/T MMA Junkie)

“Look what he’s done to (Robbie) Lawler. A lot of people said Lawler wasn’t the same; I don’t feel like that,” Till said.

“I feel like Colby was just too much for Lawler, so when you break a fight down … because people hate Colby so much and take what he says so personal, they just want (Kamaru) Usman to win. They’re not looking at Colby. Colby is actually a terrific fighter. Forget all the (expletive) he says, because he’s just an idiot. He’s actually a terrific fighter.”

Till will face Kelvin Gastelum in his middleweight debut inside Madison Square Garden from New York City on November 2. As for Covington, he will challenge Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title at UFC 245 on December 14. Till believes there are a ton of similarities between Covington and Usman, but gives the slight edge to the champion.

“I think if you put them both together, they’re the same fighter,” Till said. “I think Usman has everything that Colby has, just a bit better. I think he’s got more power. I don’t know who’s got the bigger gas tank. I know that Colby has an unbelievable gas tank, so I think Usman just edges it.”

What do you make of Till’s assessment of Covington?

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