UFC middleweights Darren Till and Marvin Vettori will be headling the “UFC on ABC: Battle of Europe” event on April 10.
Till vs. Vettori meet in a pivotal middleweight matchup with the winner potentially in a position to challenge reigning champion Israel Adesanya. The main card will be simulcast on ABC and ESPN+ with a 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT start time. The preliminary card kicks off at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT on ESPN and ESPN+.
PLUS – contenders will be made in these two matchups – LIVE on @ABCNetwork 🤩 pic.twitter.com/EBgMiNufV8
— UFC (@ufc) March 11, 2021
The co-main event for the card will feature rising featherweight stars Sodiq Yusuff and Arnold Allen in a fight where both athletes are attempting to get the attention of the top-10 fighters in that division. Grappling sensation Mackenzie Dern will also return to action on the card against Nina Ansaroff, who will be making her first appearance in the UFC since 2019 when she took time off to have a child with her wife, two-division champion Amanda Nunes.
Darren till vs Marvin Vettori will fight for the next top contender
As mentioned earlier, the winner of Till vs. Vettori could very well be next in line to fight Adesanya, particularly if Till comes away with his hand raised as he hasn’t had the chance to fight the champ yet.
Till (18-3-1) abandoned his post at 170 pounds after a series of difficult weight cuts and was expected to become a major player in the middleweight division. After squeaking by Kelvin Gastelum with a split decision at UFC 244, “The Gorilla” went down on points against former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC Fight Island 3.
As for Vettori (16-4-1), he can seemingly do no wrong in the years following his razor-thin decision loss to Israel Adesanya. “The Italian Dream” has rattled off four straight wins, including his unanimous decision nod over longtime contender Jack Hermansson at UFC Vegas 16 in Dec. 2020.
The fight is scheduled to take place one week before a reported main event between Whittaker and Paulo Costa. With current UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya after losing to Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight championship at UFC 259 said he will be back at middleweight, Till vs. Vettori and Whittaker vs. Costa will likely determine the No. 1 contender at 185 pounds or set the stage for an interim title bout.
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