UFC London Preview: Till vs Hermansson – Have The Correct Adjustments Been Made?

In just over two weeks, fan favourite Darren Till will return to the Octagon at UFC London, to take on Jack “The Joker” Hermansson.

The Scousers grappling has been under scrutiny in his last few fights, especially throughout his loss to Derek Brunson. To combat that flaw in his game, as fans will know, the 29-year-old has formed not only an alliance, but an extremely strong bond with Welterweight stand-out, Khamzat Chimaev.

With “Borz” being an extremely dominant wrestler, you can only imagine that after months and months of training together, Till’s wrestling acumen both offensively and defensively must’ve came on leaps and bounds from where he was prior to their fruitful relationship. And this is something that should prove extremely valuable in his upcoming fight with Hermansson.

Chimaev and Hermansson are no strangers to each other. Khamzat has in fact been training with the Norwegian on the lead up to his bout with Till on July 23rd. As well as that, the two have actually been locked inside the cage together. But not in an MMA bout. The two competed in a freestyle wrestling match back in November at Bulldog Fight Night 9, with Chimaev getting his hand raised.

With all of Chimaev’s knowledge on Hermansson and the experiences he’s had with him personally, this will undoubtably be beneficial for “The Gorilla” leading in to his return to the Octagon.

Of course, Till’s game-plan won’t waiver from keeping the fight on the feet and getting behind his powerful left hand, but gaining more experience in the grappling department will allow him to strike with less fear of being taken down and dominated on the mat. It is likely that “The Joker’s” game-plan will be the complete opposite, and that is to get the fight to the mat at all costs.

At this point in his career, a win for Till is almost imperative. The former title challenger has undoubtably got championship calibre stand-up skills, and with the inclusion of Khamzat Chimaev and Allstars tutelage, fans are hoping there will be a clear improvement in his defensive mat skills to push him into Middleweight title contention.

As exciting as it was for UK MMA fans at the time, there have since been questions about whether Till was thrown into the deep-end too early. Although it was 6 fights into his UFC tenure, Till’s title shot came around quite rapidly as it only took 3 years. Now being in a position in his career where he has moved to the 185lb division, going 1-2 so far, a career resurgence is in sight, and it all starts at the O2 Arena on July 23rd.