Till moving up to middleweight for Gastelum clash

Jorge Masvidal knocks out home favourite Darren Till in the second round at UFC Fight Night 147 at the London O2 Arena, Greenwich on Saturday 16th March 2019.
NurPhoto / Getty

Darren Till is making the jump up from welterweight, and his first challenge at 185 lbs will be a big one.

The Englishman will take on No. 4-ranked middleweight Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244 on Nov. 2 in New York City, the promotion announced Monday. The Madison Square Garden card hasn't been given a main-event bout yet.

Till's move comes after back-to-back losses, the first coming in a title fight against then-champion Tyron Woodley, and the second was to Jorge Masvidal via a second-round knockout.

Prior to that, Till had gone unbeaten over 18 fights, with 17 wins (12 via stoppage) and one draw. However, he has a long history of struggling with cutting weight at 170 lbs.

Meanwhile, Gastelum is coming off a Fight of the Year candidate against Israel Adesanya for the interim middleweight belt. The American pushed Adesanya to his limits in a unanimous-decision loss.

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