Unexpected Chaos: Till Out, Holland Hopes To Step Up, and Vettori Speaks Out

A fight born from call-outs that ranged from polite to insulting, Till vs Vettori captured the intrigue of fans, media members, and fighters alike. Absolutely everybody was excited for this fight, so it is no doubt crushing for everyone involved that it is now off.

First reported by Nolan King, it is confirmed that a collarbone injury is what’s forcing Till out of his fight with Vettori on April 10th. “The Gorilla” also released an official statement regarding this situation and his injury on Instagram.

After the news broke, Kevin Holland would almost immediately volunteer to step-up on short notice. Creating a potential Holland vs Vettori matchup that’s coming out of nowhere, and would be sure to excite!

The Rise of “The Gorilla”

Darren Till (18-3-1, 6-3-1 UFC) is one of the UK’s biggest superstars right now. First making his way on to the scene fighting for promotions like Sparta MMA and Aspera FC, Till quickly amassed a 12 fight win streak ahead of his UFC debut against Wendell Oliveira. Debuting at UFC Fight Night 67, “The Gorilla” would impress and finish Oliveira in round two via KO/TKO.

From that moment, a young UFC star was born. Till would go on to blaze his way through the welterweight division, winning four fights in a row to earn a title shot against Tyron Woodley at UFC 228. What followed were the first two losses of Till’s career. Losing to Woodley and then Jorge Masvidal at UFC on ESPN+ 5. After that came the move to the middleweight division where we would see “The Gorilla” beat Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244 via split-decision. Going on to fight Robert Whittaker at UFC Fight Island 3, Till and Whittaker put on a show. However, Whittaker would get the nod on the judges’ scorecards, and win the fight via decision.

This leads us to discuss how this most recent injury is not the first injury to force Till out of a main-event. In fact, it is yet another in a litany of injuries that have plagued our young British superstar’s career.

A Short History of Till’s Unlucky Fight-Cancelling Injuries

After the 2015 draw against Nicolas Dalby at UFC Fight Night 76, a shoulder injury would force Till out of the fight game for almost two years. Returning back in 2017 to go on the biggest run of his career, “The Gorilla” would avoid the injury-bug for almost four years until it would inevitably find him again. Scheduled to face Jack Hermansson at UFC Vegas 16, a knee injury linked to damage sustained in the Whittaker fight would force Till out.

On the road to recovery, Till healed from the knee injuries, and the April 10th bout with Vettori was made. Now, the injury bug bites once again, forcing Till out of yet another thrilling matchup.

What’s your opinion on this collarbone injury forcing Till out? What fight do you see him returning to when he recovers?

UFC on ABC 2 Card With Till Out

While we could possibly see Holland step up and take the fight with Vettori on short-notice, that has not been officially confirmed as of yet. The order of bouts may get shuffled as more fights drop off or get added to the card, but here is the current lineup for UFC on ABC 2:

• Middleweight: Marvin Vettori vs TBD
• Featherweight: Arnold Allen vs Sodiq Yusuff
• Middleweight: Aliaskhab Khizriev vs Kyle Daukaus
• Middleweight: Sam Alvey vs Julian Marquez
• Women’s Strawweight: Nina Ansaroff vs Mackenzie Dern
• Welterweight: Mike Perry vs Daniel Rodriguez
• Lightweight: Jim Miller vs Joe Solecki
• Lightweight: Scott Holtzman vs Mateusz Gamrot
• Women’s Bantamweight: Norma Dumont vs Bea Malecki
• Lightweight: John Makdessi vs Ignacio Bahamondes
• Heavyweight: Yorgan De Castro vs Jarjis Danholbs
• Bantamweight: Jack Shore vs Hunter Azure
• Featherweight: Luis Saldaña vs Jordan Griffin
• Light Heavyweight: Da Un Jung vs William Knight
• Welterweight: Impa Kasanganay vs Sasha Palatnikov

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Featured image credit to Embed from Getty Images