Darren Till (photo via YouTube)

Since moving up to the middleweight division, Darren Till has a record of 1 win and 1 loss. He has so far been unable to position himself as the number one contender and now that he is out injured that is going to set back his plans. He was supposed to be fighting fifth-ranked Marvin Vettori but due to breaking his collarbone, the fight that was scheduled for April the 10th was canceled.

If Till had not been injured and was able to beat Marvin Vettori, that would have put him on the list of contenders. Instead, Vettori got that chance and instead of facing Till on the 10th of April, he faced tenth-ranked Kevin Holland which he was able to win via decision. 

If Till had beaten second-ranked Robert Whittaker in his last outing, he would now be the number one contender to face Israel Adesanya. Instead, he is going to have to sit on the sidelines while the others compete to see who gets a chance for a fight for the belt against Adesanya. 

Leading the way is Whittaker who is a shoo-in for the title fight if he beats Kelvin Gastelum on the 17th of April. The bookmakers have Whittaker as the firm favorite going into the matchup so may be worth using a William Hill bonus if you’re going to put a wager on him to win.

If Till is going to make a case for a fight for the belt when he comes back after his injury, he will have to face one of the fighters above him in the rankings. These are; Paulo Henrique Costa. Jared Cannonier, Marvin Vettori, Jack Hermansson, and Derek Brunson.

The two fights that make the most sense for Till to take would be against either Costa or Vettori. If he were to beat either of these two guys he would put himself back in the mix. The fight that fans would most like to see would probably be Till versus Costa. Both fighters like to fight on the front foot and throw bombs so it should be a brutal war that could go either way.

A lot will depend on results as things can quickly change. I would love to see Whittaker versus Costa with the winner getting a title shot. The next in line after those two is Marvin Vettori who Till was supposed to fight. Till has already lost to Whittaker so unless he becomes the champion, it makes little sense-making that fight again.

If Till is out on the sideline injured for a long-time it is going to make his task to become champion even harder. The likes of Brunson are making his case to become a contender and there will be others by the time Till is ready to fight again. The Englishman is not scared of anyone, however, so whoever the UFC puts in front of him, he will be up for the challenge. Let’s hope he makes a full recovery soon as he is one of the most exciting fighters to watch and deserves a chance to make his dreams come to