Darren Till’s first foray into the UFC’s middleweight division will be against another former welterweight contender.
The Englishman will debut in the 185-pound weight class against recent interim title challenger Kelvin Gastelum later this year at UFC 244.
The UFC confirmed the matchup on Monday.
After starting his MMA career 17-0-1, Till has lost two in a row and is looking for a fresh start. The 26-year-old earned a welterweight title shot in 2018 following back-to-back wins over Donald Cerrone and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, but Till was submitted by then-champ Tyron Woodley.
In his most recent outing, Till suffered the first knockout loss of his career at the hands of Jorge Masvidal.
Meanwhile, Gastelum (15-4, one no-contest) lost a thrilling five-round interim title fight to Israel Adesanya at UFC 236 in April in what was one of the more exciting fights of 2019.
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