Darren Till has been forced to withdraw from the UFC London event on July 23.
The UK middleweight star an undisclosed injury and has dropped out of a fight with Jack Hermansson, MMA Fighting has learned from a person with knowledge of the situation after an initial report from 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 relationship wasn’t exclusive, however; “The Wolf” was recently spotted getting in a few rounds with Hermansson.
Till, the No. 11 ranked fighter in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, faced a serious submission threat 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.
Curtis steps up to face Hermansson on the strength of a three-fight winning streak since signing with the UFC; two of those victories have been by way of knockout. The American makes a quick turnaround after outpointing Rodolpho Vieira at UFC Vegas 57 less than two weeks ago.
UFC London is headlined by a heavyweight bout between hometown hero Tom Aspinall and Curtis Blaydes. The event airs live on ESPN+.