There will be no homecoming fight for Darren Till.
ESPN’s Marc Raimondi was first to report that the Englishman had withdrawn from his July 23rd matchup with fellow middleweight contender Jack Hermansson due to an undisclosed injury. Shortly after that news broke, the UFC confirmed that Chris Curtis has agreed to make that trip to London and take on Hermansson.
Till (18-4-1) has dropped four out of his last five, including a submission defeat to Derek Brunson last September. This was due to be his first fight in England since a KO loss to Jorge Masvidal in 2019, but now he’ll have to wait a little longer for his return.
In his place is a man on an absolute tear in Chris Curtis (29-8). He is on an eight-fight winning streak, including three impressive UFC wins over Phil Hawes, Brendan Allen, and most recently Rodolfo Vieira. Not bad for someone who famously retired twice in one night after losing two fights in the 2019 PFL tournament.
Hermansson (22-7) is looking to bounce back from a five-round decision loss to Sean Strickland back in February. ‘The Joker’ has alternated wins and losses over his last five fights, defeating Edmen Shahbazyan and Kelvin Gastelum while falling to Marvin Vettori, Jared Cannonier, and the aforementioned Strickland. The latest UFC rankings have Hermansson at #8 in the middleweight division.
UFC London features a heavyweight main event between rising star Tom Aspinall and Curtis Blaydes.
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