UFC middleweight contender Darren Till says that he wants a title fight against champion Israel Adesanya if he beats Jack Hermansson.
Adesanya had one of the most impressive performances of his UFC career to date on Saturday night when he stopped Paulo Costa with strikes in the second round of their main event fight at UFC 253. Adesanya is now 20-0 in his MMA career with nine wins in the UFC alone. He’s the undisputed champion and everyone who is under him in the rankings is just trying to chase after him now as he’s the best middleweight in MMA.
One of the fighters ranked behind Adesanya and chasing him for the 185lbs belt is Till. The Brit is coming off of a close decision loss to Robert Whittaker on Fight Island and is next scheduled to face off against Hermansson later this year. Although UFC president Dana White has said that Jared Cannonier is next in line for Adesanya, Till is hoping that a win over Hermansson gets him there. Here’s what Till wrote on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/darrentill2/status/1310220747764371461
What a Fight by the Champ, he’s some striker. I have got to come back, beat Jack. Beat maybe one more, Or if I beat jack badly… jump straight in & fight the champ! I do believe I can outstrike him if I’m faster… I have to work extremely hard now though. More than ever before!
The first thing to note is the high praise for Adesanya from Till. While Till has made it clear in the past that he is chasing after Adesanya and his belt, he has also admitted that he respects him as a fighter. As Till notes, he has to train even harder now to beat Adesanya, just as the other middleweights have to do based on the Costa fight.
The second thing to notice is Darren Till saying that a win over Hermansson could jump him in the line for the 185lbs title shot. At this point, it does seem very likely that Cannonier will finally get his long-awaited title shot if he beats Whittaker in October at UFC 254. But that fight is not a given by any means. Whittaker is one of the best middleweights in the UFC, so if he gets by Cannonier and Till gets by Hermansson, that could be the path for the Brit to get past the rest of the line and get the title shot at 185lbs.
Would you give Darren Till a title shot against Israel Adesanya if he beats Jack Hermansson?