The Ultimate Fighting Championship is looking to book Darren Till against former champion, Robert Whittaker, to headline a fight night this summer.
The former welterweight contender made his middleweight debut in November 2019 and eked out a narrow win against Kelvin Gastelum.
Prior to this victory, he suffered back-to-back losses to Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal respectively, which ended an impressive 5-0 start to his UFC career.
“I thought I was invincible. Coming off two losses to fight the bulldozer of this division,” the British fighter said in an interview after beating Gastelum at UFC 244.
“I proved a lot of doubters wrong. I want you to message me tonight, f*** you. I want to stay humble and cocky at the same time, so f*** all them doubters again.”
Now, the journey towards winning the middleweight title just gets tougher for ‘The Gorilla’ as he is expected to fight another beast of the 185-pound class on his next outing.
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Main Event Fight
According to a report by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, the Nevada-based promotion is currently finalizing a middleweight clash between Till and Whittaker to headline a fight night in Dublin, Ireland.
“Breaking: UFC targeting Robert Whittaker vs. Darren Till to headline UFC Fight Night on Aug. 15 in Dublin, per multiple sources. Not signed yet, but UFC in the process of finalizing. WHAT A MAIN EVENT. Rob? Darren?,” Okamoto announced on Twitter.
The Australian fighter most recently lost his middleweight championship to Israel Adesanya, when they clashed at UFC 243 in October 2019.
It was his first loss since February 2014 and his third overall in the UFC for a 13-3 slate.
He was scheduled to return last weekend at the UFC 248 pay-per-view event to fight the streaking Jared Cannonier but decided to pullout due to personal reasons.
Heroic Act
Based on multiple reports, “Bobby Knuckles” withdrew from the UFC 248 fight card because he will be donating his bone marrow to his sick daughter, Lilliana, an act that has earned the praises of the MMA community.
“I’m sorry to all my friends, supporters and family for not being able to fight in March,” Whittaker wrote on Instagram.
“A lot has happened over the 12 last months and I need to take some time now to be with my family, slow things down and to refocus.”
“Sorry to everyone again but I’ll be back. The best is yet to come.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Robert Whittaker and Darren Till)