While Darren Till charged his way into the UFC title picture back in 2018, behind an unbeaten 17-0-1 record, the years since haven’t been nearly so prosperous nor consistent. Till lost his title fight to then-champion Tyron Woodley by submission, only to come back six months later and get knocked out be Jorge Masvidal.
A move up to middleweight eight months afterward resulted in a less than thrilling split decision win over Kelvin Gastelum, but was quickly followed by a loss to former champion Robert Whittaker in July of last year. A planned bout against Jack Hermansson, for December, was iced due to a Till’s slower than expected recovery from a knee injury.