Darren Till is no longer available to fight at UFC Vegas 23 as he suffered a broken collarbone during training, which the fighter announced on his Instagram.
The Gorilla, Darren Till, who is currently ranked #5 in the middleweight division and has a UFC record of 18-3-1 was set for a great bout against his Italian Rival and world #6 Marvin Vettori. Sadly, however, the 28-year-old was forced to pull out of the fight after breaking his collarbone in training. This comes as a devastating bit of news for the fighter from Liverpool and his fans as he expressed his heartbreak on his Instagram, on being unable to compete.
View this post on Instagram
In an emotional message, he wrote, “I’ve been sat here for a good few hours debating how to say this & put into words what I’m feeling & I’m just going to say it straight… I’VE BROKEN MY COLLARBONE!!! Every person who is around me or who has been around me knows I train on a daily basis with fucked up knees, lower back, shoulders, hands & the list goes on.” “I’ve literally put my heart, soul, mind, physical body, cash, nutrition, sleep, recovery & then some into making sure I went out there next week & took his head off. And I was 100% sure I was going to… and with ease!!! I am sorry @marvinvettori I hope you get a new opponent and we can do this sometime soon in the future, I respect you highly as a competitor. Mark my words I will do anything and everything to become Middleweight world champion. Peace, see you all soon.”
View this post on Instagram
As a result, UFC Vegas 23 now has a new main event as Kevin Holland steps in to face The Italian Dream on really short notice. Holland who is currently ranked #10 is set to step into the octagon just two weeks after he lost to Derek Brunson by a unanimous decision at UFC Vegas 22. The TrailBlazer has competed six times in the span of only ten months with a record of 5-1 coming into the fight. While his opponent Vettori is on a winning streak with his latest win coming against Jack Hermansson, the Italian Dream’s only defeat in the last three years came against the StyleBender back in 2018. A win for Vettori should get him into the top five ahead of the injured Darren Till and could also lead to title eliminator against Derek Brunson and for Holland, this fight could help him revive his UFC career.
[Image Credit: UFC]
Shashank Iyer