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As speculated on these pages this week, it seems as though Darren Till may have found the identity of his next opponent.

Following Robert Whittaker’s withdrawal from his scheduled UFC 248 clash with surging middleweight contender Jared Cannonier which was set for the March 7 UFC 248 card in Las Vegas, leaving UFC matchmakers scrambling to identify a replacement — and in Liverpool’s Till, it appears that they have found their man.

According to a tweet from Amy Kaplan of FanSided MMA, the UFC is in the process of finalising a deal to bring Till to Las Vegas to face Cannonier in what will be his second middleweight contest following his debut win at 185-pounds against Kelvin Gastelum last year. The win put an end to a two-fight losing skid in which he was defeated by submission by former champion Tyron Woodley and knocked out by Jorge Masvidal in London last March.

Cannonier, meanwhile, has won three straight with all of those wins coming by way of TKO against David Branch, Anderson Silva and Jack Hermansson.

The fight, if and when it gets announced, will mean that Till won’t compete on the annual UFC card in the English capital this year which is again slated for March.

This leaves an opening at the top of the card for the heavily rumoured fight between welterweight contenders Tyron Woodley and Leon Edwards.