In the second of two major middleweight bouts announced Wednesday night, Derek Brunson and Darren Till are being targeted to square off on August 14.
Originally reported by ESPN Wednesday night, the UFC is hopeful that this bout between Brunson and Till is finalized, but Till still needs to gain medical clearance for his broken collarbone sustained recently. This is the same injury that forced Till to withdraw from his scheduled bout against Marvin Vettori last month. The fact that the UFC is targeting a hard date for this contest bodes well for Till’s recovery progress. And should Till not be ready by August 14, Dana White’s confirmation of this pairing suggests that the fight would be moved to a later date.
Derek Brunson and Darren Till have been bantering on social media lately, particularly in the DMs, but now they will both have the chance many people long for of coming face to face with their troll. Brunson is currently ranked #5 in the middleweight division and is undergoing a career resurgence that has him looking perhaps better than he ever has in his 11-year MMA career. Brunson is riding a four-fight winning streak, and defeating Darren Till would put him on the shortlist of title contenders for reigning champion Israel Adesanya or whoever is the middleweight king by that point.
But first, Brunson will have to get through the tricky and striking guru that is Darren Till. Till has somewhat quietly lost three of his last four fights but still remains one of the most respected fighters on the middleweight roster due to his advanced striking skills and fight IQ. Holding career wins over names like Stephen Thompson, Kelvin Gastelum, and Donald Cerrone does wonders for your reputation as well. That said, a loss would make it four out of his last five and 1-2 at middleweight. A win, though, not unlike the case with Brunson, would put Till in talks of potentially fighting for the title, especially with current champion Israel Adesanya preferring that pairing.
The presumption is that this is being targeted to serve as the main event, but as of this writing, that has not yet been confirmed.
Who do you think will win this pivotal middleweight scrap? Darren Till or Derek Brunson.
