Ever since Darren Till missed weight for his fight with Stephen Thompson last May, the questions began on whether or not “The Gorilla” should make the move from welterweight to middleweight. Since then, Till has had two more appearances at 170-pounds — including an opportunity at the UFC welterweight title — in which he was finished in the second round of both fights.
According to an Instagram post from Till late Monday night, it seems like a move to the 185-pounds has gone a bit beyond the discussion stage.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz9c6yKFWE3/?igshid=1h1thzaabnnut
“Come den motherf**king middleweights,” Till’s post read as he completed a workout in Brazil.
Following the win over Thompson in May of last year, Till would get the opportunity to challenge the, then, champion Tyron Woodley at UFC 228 four months later in his first world title fight. The weight cut certainly didn’t seem like an issue as he was in great spirits throughout the fight week, even coming in below championship weight at 169 pounds. Woodley had one of the best performances of his career in Dallas en route to a second round d’arce choke submission victory to retain his title.
Till would look to bounce back in his home country of England when he took on Jorge Masvidal in the main event of March’s UFC on ESPN+ 5 event. After taking a low blow from “Gamebred” in the opening seconds of the fight, Till would have a solid first round finding his range, dropping Masvidal in the process. However, things changed very quickly in the second round as Masvidal captured the momentum and delivered one of the most ferocious one punch knockouts you will ever see.
UFC president Dana White had stated in a recent interview that after Till’s first round finish of Donald Cerrone at UFC Fight Night 118 in October 2017 that he may have pushed the 26-year-old Till too quickly. White still believes Till can be a contender despite his recent setbacks, but now it may be at 185-pounds.
Should Darren Till follow through with the move to the middleweight division?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 7/16/2019.