Darren Till has been forced to withdraw from the UFC London event on July 23.
The U.K.’s middleweight champion suffered an undisclosed injuries and had to withdraw from a fight against Jack Hermansson. MMA Fighting learned this from a source with more knowledge, following an initial report by ESPN.com ..
Replacing Till is octagon vet Chris Curtis, who will step in to face Hermansson, according to UFC’s website. The new bout serves as the co-headliner on the 12-fight card at The O2 in London.
Going 1-4 in his past five outings, Till hoped to turn over a new leaf with a new training partner and friend in Khamzat Chimaev. The couple wasn’t just a one-to-one affair, though. “The Wolf,” however, was seen recently playing a few rounds of golf with Hermansson.
The No. 11 ranked fighter on the MMA Fighting Global Rankings faced a serious threat of being submitted in No. 9-ranked Hermansson, whose career swerved after a 7-2 run opened his octagon career. The Swedish fighter has bounced between wins and losses since a TKO loss to recent title challenger Jared Cannonier and most recently lost a split call to Sean Strickland at UFC Vegas 47 to leave him at 2-3 in his past five outings.
Hermansson will be facing Curtis on the back of three consecutive wins since signing with UFC. Two of these victories were by knockout. After beating Rodolpho Vieira in UFC Vegas 57 two weeks earlier, the American performs a swift turnaround.
The headline bout at UFC London will be between Tom Aspinall (from the hometown) and Curtis Blaydes (from the far). The event airs live on ESPN+.
