Darren Till has been removed from the UFC roster. He was the fifteenth-ranked Middleweight at the time he was released. This shook up the Middleweight rankings probably more than it needed to. Unranked Brendan Allen took Till's spot in the rankings after a big victory on Saturday Night. Not only did Allen take Till's spot, but Allen jumped Chris Curtis, Kelvin Gastelum, and Andre Muniz (who Allen defeated) becoming the twelfth-ranked Middleweight. The rankers also thought it would be a fun idea to swap Chris Curtis and Kelvin Gastelum as well. Gastelum and Curtis are scheduled for a bout at UFC 287 in April.
You may think that would have very little impact on a fight between the fourteenth and fifteenth-ranked Middleweights. However, you would be wrong. Curtis was originally the lower-ranked fighter. He would have been fighting out of the blue corner trying to climb up the rankings. Now he is in the blue corner defending his position in the division. Curtis displayed some of his frustration on Twitter.
Gastelum has been relatively silent for someone who could end up in Darren Till's shoes barring a loss in April. Gastelum is a seasoned veteran in the UFC with a ton of fun fights, just like Darren Till, including a fight against Till. Gastelum is currently trending down on a two-fight losing streak and hasn't fought since August of 2021. Gastelum's last two losses are to very tough opponents as well: Robert Whittaker and Jared Cannonier. Since the loss to Cannonier, Gastelum has been training with Henry Cejudo and Jon Jones at Fight Ready in Scottsdale, Arizona. So maybe Kelvin isn't as close to the curb as I originally made him out to be. Kelvin might show us some fireworks against the "Action Man" Chris Curtis, but Curtis is also a really tough opponent. Curtis's last victory is a win against Joaquin Buckley at UFC 282 and it was a hell of a knockout.
That leaves us with the question of what is next for Darren Till. Personally, I'd like to see Darren settle some unfinished business with Mike Perry under any promotion. However, Darren has been somewhat vocal on Twitter. He is hinting that he may go into boxing and then return to the UFC.
What's next for Till?
A) Real Boxing
B) Boxing a Paul or KSI
C) BKFC
D) PFL/Bellator/ONE/Rizin
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