Tag: UFC Dublin

Darren Till slid right into Israel Adesanya’s DMs and yelled a warning at him

Darren Till with a not-so-subtle message for the champ.

[autotag]Darren Till[/autotag] has made a habit out of sliding into [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag]’s DMs.

Till, who just entered the middleweight mix last year, finds himself perhaps one fight away from a title shot after edging Kelvin Gastelum last November at UFC 244.

Till is scheduled to meet former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker on Aug. 15 in the UFC Dublin headliner, and win there could clinch his spot as the No. 1 contender.

Always up for a bit of banter, Till decided to warn the champ that he’s coming for him by once again sliding into his DMs, which Adesanya shared on Twitter.

With the weight cut down to 170 pounds taking a toll on his body, middleweight is a much more natural fit for Till. The win over Gastelum snapped a two-fight losing streak for the formerly undefeated Till, who is beaming with confidence and likes his chances against Adesanya, which he made clear in response to a fan.

I love u too but he (expletive) won’t, not a single chance in hell. Healthy till at middleweight with this new improved mind set to training and all other things. Not a (EXPLETIVE) chance!

The current coronavirus outbreak already has postponed three UFC events, but with Till not scheduled to fight until August, his chances of fighting are better than most other booked fighters.

In the meantime, Till has let himself go.

Just a tad…

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

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Ashlee Evans-Smith, Molly McCann bond after London fight scratch, want UFC Dublin date

Not fighting each other at UFC on ESPN+ 29 appears to have brought Ashlee Evans-Smith and Molly McCann closer together.

Not fighting each other at UFC on ESPN+ 29 appears to have brought [autotag]Ashlee Evans-Smith[/autotag] and [autotag]Molly McCann[/autotag] closer together.

After their women’s flyweight matchup was called off due to the postponement of this past Saturday’s event in London due to the coronavirus outbreak, Evans-Smith (6-4 MMA, 3-4 UFC) and McCann (10-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) decided to share a different type of experience in the form of an Instagram Live stream.

Evans-Smith and McCann got on the social media platform for more than 30 minutes on Sunday and discussed many different topics. The overarching theme of the conversation, however, was that they want to be rescheduled as soon as possible.

“Hopefully you and I can still fight,” Evans-Smith said to McCann. “I would love to come back to London.”

“If London doesn’t happen I’m just going to call for Dublin in August,” McCann responded. “We’d get a good reception there, to be honest.”

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UFC on ESPN+ 29 was one of three planned events the promotion was forced to delay. It intends on moving forward with UFC 249 on April 18, but the nature of the coronavirus pandemic means nothing is certain.

Evans-Smith and McCann said they don’t know where they fit into the UFC’s plans to reschedule fights, or how long it could be until their names come up again. What they do know, though, is they want to stick together.

“You don’t always get the same opponent,” McCann said. “But we’ve trained for each other already and might as well make it happen.”

“We’ve suffered together, we might as well make each other suffer,” Evans-Smith said.

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Robert Whittaker vs. Darren Till in the works to headline UFC Dublin in August

The UFC’s return to Dublin after nearly five years has a main event, and it’s a big fight for the middleweight division.

The UFC’s return to Dublin after nearly five years has a main event, and it’s a big fight for the future of the middleweight division.

Former UFC champ [autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] will fight for the first time since losing the belt in October when he meets [autotag]Darren Till[/autotag] in the headliner of UFC Dublin, which takes place Aug. 15 from 3Arena. Broadcast plans are still to be determined, but the card is likely to stream on ESPN+.

MMA Junkie verified with a person close to the situation that both sides have agreed to the matchup, but contracts have yet to be signed, as ESPN.com first reported. The person requested anonymity because the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.

Whittaker (20-5 MMA, 11-3 UFC) hasn’t seen action since UFC 243, when he dropped the 185-pound belt to Israel Adesanya. He was scheduled to make a comeback at UFC 248 this month, but a still-unknown personal matter forced him to withdraw from a planned bout against Jared Cannonier. UFC president Dana White said he didn’t know how long Whittaker would be kept out, but apparently he’s ready to get back to work.

Looking to hand the former titleholder his second loss in a row will be Till (18-2-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC), the former welterweight title challenger who made a successful middleweight debut at UFC 244 in November when he beat Kelvin Gastelum by split decision. The Brit openly expressed his desire to be the main event in Dublin when the card was announced, and now he gets his wish.

Whittaker vs. Till is the first reported fight booking for UFC Dublin.

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Ali Abdelaziz shuts down Conor McGregor vs. Justin Gaethje rumor: It’s ‘absolutely false’

According to Ali Abdelaziz, the rumored fight between Conor McGregor and Justin Gaethje isn’t happening.

.According to Dominance MMA head Ali Abdelaziz, the rumored fight between [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] and [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] isn’t happening.

After news emerged that discussions between both Gaethje and McGregor’s teams have started regarding a summer showdown, Gaethje’s manager Abdelaziz took to Twitter to shut those talks down.

He says McGregor missed his chance when he opted to face Donald Cerrone instead of Gaethje in his January return fight, and that Gaethje is the rightful No. 1 contender as it stands.

“This rumor about @Justin_Gaethje fighting vs @TheNotoriousMMA is absolutely false. He had the opportunity to fight him already instead of cowboy but he didn’t. Justin is the number one contender and like khabib said. Conor needs to win 10 fights.”

However, Gaethje has continuously been calling McGregor out, and even said he’s willing to go to Dublin to face him. While it’s highly unlikely that McGregor will ever compete in Dublin again in his UFC career due to a lack of a suitable venue, Gaethje is game to head to enemy territory for the fight.

“You kidding me. I would love to fight in the most hostile environment on earth. That would be scary but beyond an experience of a lifetime. Bring the heat. #ufc”

Gaethje has won his last three in a row, by knocking out James Vick, Edson Barboza and Donald Cerrone, all in the first round. He has positioned himself as one of the top contenders at 155 pounds, but with UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s next fight already booked against Tony Ferguson in April, Gaethje will likely have to take another fight in the meantime.

If his heart is set on Dublin, there is another lightweight looking to make the trip: [autotag]Paul Felder[/autotag].

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UFC returns to Dublin in August

The UFC returns to Dublin for the first time in almost five years on Aug. 15.

The UFC is heading back to Dublin for the first time in almost five years.

Thursday morning, the promotion announced that they are set to make their return to the Irish capital on Aug. 15, marking their fourth trip to the city.

UFC Senior Vice President, International and Content, David Shaw commented on the UFC’s highly-anticipated return to Dublin.

“We kicked off the year with a phenomenal comeback from Conor McGregor at UFC 246, and now we are thrilled to announce our return to Ireland after four years,” Shaw stated. “With Irish fans amongst the most passionate UFC supporters in the world, and Dublin being such an iconic global city, we can’t wait to put on another world class event for our fans there.”

The UFC’s last visit to Dublin came in 2015, where a flyweight matchup between Louis Smolka and Ireland’s own Paddy Holohan headlined event. The card also featured the memorable “Fight of the Night” battle between Darren Till and Nicolas Dalby, which ended in a majority draw.

Tickets go on sale for the general public on June 26, with UFC Fight Club members getting early access on June 24, and newsletter subscribers getting access on June 25. Fans can register to the event at UFC.com/dublin to secure tickets in advance.