Jack Hermansson ‘Anticipated’ Darren Till Pulling Out Of UFC London: ‘I Wasn’t Surprised’

Jack Hermansson was not surprised to see Darren Till pull out of their scheduled bout.

Fan favorite Till was set to mark his return to competition against Hermansson on Saturday, Jul. 21 for UFC London at O2 Arena. However, “The Gorilla” was forced to withdraw from their planned outing due to a leg injury.

With Till being out, Chris Curtis stepped in as the replacement for the co-main event.

Jack Hermansson is not surprised at Darren Till’s withdrawal

During the UFC London media day, Jack Hermansson talked to the reporters about having to fight a new opponent. Given Till’s unfortunate history of pulling out of fights due to injuries, Hermansson was not surprised to see it happen again.

“I kind of anticipated it through the whole camp,” Hermansson said. “I don’t know why, I just had a bad feeling about it — maybe because the first time I wanted to fight him he declined the fight, second time he pulled from the fight, third time he didn’t even announce the fight himself.

“I couldn’t see any sign of him fighting, so I just had a bad feeling about it with me through the whole camp. To be honest, I wasn’t surprised.” (ht Mike Heck/MMA Fighting)

Hermansson has been in a similar position before

Hermansson was previously booked to face Till in the headlining bout of UFC Vegas 16 in Dec. 2020. Till ended up pulling out of the contest and Kevin Holland was matched up with “The Joker”. Then, Holland had a positive COVID-19 test and was also forced out of the bout. Hermansson was game still and accepted the fight with another replacement, Marvin Vettori, who would beat him by a decision.

While it’s not a preference, fighters have to be ready for anything in this crazy sport, and Hermansson understands that part of the game.

“It’s a big part of the MMA game. It happens all the time,” Hermansson said. “You just need to be ready for anything.

“Chris is a great opponent. He has a lot of experience, a lot of fights, a lot of wins, heavy hands, won all his fights in the UFC, eight-fight win streak. I think he’s as good as it gets. He’s one of those guys trying to climb into the rankings and he’s right up there. He’s a great opponent.”