It looks like time has run out on the potential of a bout between Darren Till and Jared Cannonier on the March 7 UFC 248 card.
Till had been linked with a relatively short-notice fight with the dangerous contender Cannonier following former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker’s withdrawal from the contest but as the time ticked ever closer to the card which is to be headlined by Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero, it was beginning to seem less and less likely that it would come to pass.
Well, according to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, the fight is now dead in the water.
Based on conversations I’ve had, a potentially sweet middleweight fight between Darren Till and Jared Cannonier is NOT going to happen on March 7 in Las Vegas.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) February 13, 2020
Little explanation was given as to why but with the card being three weeks away tomorrow, it seems that one factor could well have been that the time expired on the feasibility of a fight being arranged in such short notice. However, Till posted a cryptic Instagram message overnight simply stating: “Jared?” We’ll let you draw your own conclusions as to the meaning of that.
Both fighters had outlined their interest in facing each other in recent weeks but in a recent interview with The Mac Life, Cannonier said that he understood that Till was attempting to re-negotiate his contract with the UFC and that he didn’t begrudge him for doing so.
Till also jokingly tagged US President Donald Trump on social media and asked him to help him expedite his visa issues in order to make it to Las Vegas for the fight.
With this now almost certainly dead in the water, it remains to be seen if the UFC will make attempts to retain Cannonier on the card against another opponent or try and make the fight with Till a little bit further down the line.
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