Darren Till Staying at Welterweight for Now but Eventually Wants Israel Adesanya Fight

Darren Till is staying at welterweight for now.

The former title challenger, who has struggled to make the welterweight limit in the past, finally went through a better weight cut for his most recent contest against Tyron Woodley at UFC 228 this past September.

Obviously, Till would have preferred a different result after suffering a second round submission loss but he says that experience convinced him that he could be healthy while making the welterweight limit for at least a few more fights going forward.

Initially after the fight ended, the Liverpool native had teased a potential move to 185 pounds but he says that is on hold for the time being.

“I’m definitely gonna fight at 185 but just cause I made such a big deal out of the cut myself, because obviously I missed weight in Liverpool and the cut turned out to be surprisingly easy [for the Tyron Woodley fight],” Till said when speaking to the ‘Believe You Me’ podcast. “It was just easy so I can still stay at welterweight for a few more fights.

“That’s what I’ve got in my head and then obviously move up to 185. But for now I can still make the welterweight cut so I think I’m going to stay at welterweight.”

While the move to middleweight has been delayed, Till knows exactly who he wants to face once he finally does debut at 185 pounds.

“Style Bender [Israel Adesanya],” Till stated. “I’m always asking Sean [Shelby] for the biggest and the hardest challenges. Obviously, you seen that in my last fight against the champion.

“I just want to fight the best and right now at middleweight, ‘Style Bender’ is one of the best — not all around but I think striker against striker, me coming from a striking background and him himself, I just think it would be a good matchup. That’s definitely a fight I want in the future.”

Adesanya is currently preparing for a matchup against former middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 234 in Australia in February.

A win could secure him a title shot against the main event that same night where Robert Whittaker takes on Kelvin Gastelum.

With a title around his waist or not, Till likes the idea of facing Adesanya when he finally does make his transition to the middleweight division.