UFC middleweight contender, Darren Till has promised to come back “stronger” following his most recent injury setback, after the Liverpool native was forced to withdraw from a scheduled UFC Fight Night London co-headliner against Jack Hermasson on July 23. in the English capital.

Darren Till, the current #9 ranked middleweight contender, has been sidelined since September of last year where he headlined UFC Vegas 36 against division veteran, Derek Brunson, suffering a rather one-sided third round rear-naked choke submission loss. 

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Following the bout, Till’s head coach, Team Kaobon trainer, Colin Heron confirmed that his student had entered the main event clash with Brunson off the back of another knee injury – initially suffered in his July 2020 ‘Fight Island’ defeat to former champion, Robert Whittaker

In the time since his defeat in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and before his loss to Brunson, the Liverpool striker had been forced from another slated fight with Hermansson due to another knee injury, while a title-eliminator against Marvin Vettori was shelved after Till fractured his collarbone ahead of the main event ABC matchup. 

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Chris Curtis replaces Darren Till on July 23. against Jack Hermansson

Off the back of Till’s withdrawal from his rescheduled matchup with Hermansson, the promotion swiftly moved to replace the Liverpudlian with surging veteran Ohio native, Chris Curtis who fights the #8 ranked Swede in a huge co-main event landing pad. 

Addressing his latest injury setback after a lenghty run of woes, Till shared footage of himself lying in a hospital bed, with nurses and doctors appearing to attend to the striker’s right knee.

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“Be back stronger (thumbs up emoji),” Darren Till tweeted. “Thanks for messages of support everyone…” 

In his most recent professional victory, Till managed to defeat one-time interim title challenger, Kelvin Gastelum in his middleweight divisional bow back in November at UFC 244.

Aspiring mixed martial arts reporter based in Ireland. Follow along at @Ross_Markey on Twitter for all the latest news, fight announcements, opinion, and feature pieces.