Darren Till says fight with Jared Cannonier is on: “I’ve said yes”
A middleweight contender fight between Darren Till and Jared Cannonier set for UFC 248 seems to be agreed upon by all parties.
The UFC middleweight division seems more talent rich than ever, with undefeated Israel Adesanya reigning as champion. He is set to make his first title defence against the ferocious former Olympian wrestler Yoel Romero at UFC 248 on March 7th. While Brazilian slugger Paulo Costa is out on injury the two highest ranked fighters in contention are Liverpool’s Darren Till and American Jared Cannonier. Now the two both claimed to have accepted a fight that is sure to produce the next title contender.
While there has been much talk of the two fighting nothing has been made official. Recently in an interview with BT Sports, Cannonier said he had accepted a fight with Till, and was awaiting response.
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“They offered me Darren, I said yes,” Cannonier said. “If that doesn’t happen, I want the next title shot.”
Till responded directly to a Tweet containing the interview, claiming that he has accepted the fight.
“I’ve said yes,” Till wrote regarding a fight with Cannonier. “I’m ready! This fight will complete the March 7th card! I massively respect killa but I’m gonna whoop him!”
Till debuted in the middleweight division at UFC 244 in November of last year, defeating former interim title contender Kelvin Gastelum via decision. That was a much needed win for Till, who had lost his two previous fights via stoppage. Admittedly those losses came against top welterweights Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal, but they were tough losses for the Brit.
Cannonier is on an incredible streak with three straight T/KO’s. First he knocked out David Branch in his middleweight debut, then he TKO’d the legend Anderson Silva in Brazil. In his most recent outing he went to Scandinavia to face Norway-based Swede Jack Hermansson, and won via TKO once more.
While the fight is certainly not official, all indications point towards the fight materialising.