Darren Till’s reaction to making weight really says it all

Comments like, ‘I’m a light heavyweight in the welterweight division,’ means that there will always be extra focus on the Darren Till weight situation.

Prior to UFC 228, only half of Darren Till’s UFC appearances were welterweight victories. Three of the wins came at 170, two were catchweight contests while he drew against Nicolas Dalby in Dublin in a fight he had been dominating until he dislocated his shoulder.

Till weighed in at 176 lbs in his third Octagon outing against Jessin Ayari in 2017. Being five pounds over the welterweight non-title fight limit meant he was forced to forfeit 20% of his purse to his opponent. He won the catchweight bout via dominant unanimous decision.

For his controversial hometown headliner against Stephen Thompson, he weighed in at 174.5 lbs. As a result, he handed over 30% of his purse to Wonderboy and couldn’t weigh more than 188 lbs on the day of the fight. Till won via contentious decision.

So, naturally enough, there were concerns surrounding Till’s ability to make championship weight ahead of his crack at Tyron Woodley’s title at UFC 228. Especially considering he was being handed the opportunity off the back of missing weight. The UFC kept streaking 170 lber Kamaru Usman waiting in the wings. Just in case.

There is 'serious concern' surrounding the title fight #UFC228 https://t.co/1RXefSdYbs

— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) September 7, 2018

First up on the scales was Usman. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ came in at 169 lbs. So he will receive a payment from the UFc for making weight.

Till came out on stage just a few minutes later. He made a real statement by coming in at 169 lbs. After his weight was confirmed, he stuck two middle-fingers up to the media, who had been pestering him about making weight in the build-up to the event.

gif via MMA Fighting

There was actually a little drama surrounding champion Woodley’s weigh-in. On his first attempt, ‘the Chosen One’ weighed 171 lbs. However, he went back up just a few seconds later and hit the 170 mark using the towel.

We have ourselves a title fight.