"Show goes on" - Chris Curtis reacts to Darren Till withdrawing as his corner for the Jack Hermansson fight
Chris Curtis will no longer have Darren Till cornering him in his fight against Jack Hermansson at UFC London, and that's perfectly fine with Curtis.
Till was originally set to face Hermansson in the co-main event of the July 23 event, but a leg injury took him out of the fight. For a hot minute it sounded like Till would show up at the O2 Arena anyway in replacement fighter Chris Curtis' corner, but those plans have been nixed with Till calling them 'disrespectful.'
https://t.co/kx73m0faVM
That leaves Curtis down one cornerman again, but 'The Action Man' had nothing but support for Till's decision. He took to Twitter to defend 'The Gorilla' from criticism, writing:
"Guys come on, Darren being in my corner was more just for the crowd. There isn't a lot to learn in a week. I wanted you guys to have your walkout. Till made the right Decision in respecting Jack. I am definitely ok with it. Relax guys he did the right thing. Show goes on."
Guys come on, Darren being in my corner was more just for the crowd. There isn't a lot to learn in a week. I wanted you guys to have your walkout. Till made the right Decision in respecting Jack. I am definitely ok with it. Relax guys he did the right thing. Show goes on.
Curtis had a gap in his cornering team because Sean Strickland wasn't able to secure a new passport in time to accompany him to the UK. Now that Till is out, Curtis has reassured fans on Twitter that he has other coaches on his team that will step in and make sure he's well taken care of between rounds.
#UFCLondon news
Apparently Darren Till will not be in Chris Curtis' (@Actionman513) corner. Curtis heard the info two hours ago.
(h/t @DennisKornman) https://t.co/woL1GnZJdm
Sean Strickland can't corner Chris Curtis because he "destroyed his passport" to avoid fighting in Abu Dhabi
Chris Curtis originally wanted his friend and teammate Sean Strickland to join him for his potentially career-changing co-main event at UFC London. Unfortunately, Strickland was unable to join Curtis' team because he doesn't have a passport.
Or rather, he doesn't have a passport any more, because he allegedly destroyed it. In an interview with Helen Yee, Curtis explained the situation:
“Actually not, because Sean doesn’t have a passport because Sean destroyed his passport to avoid having to go to Abu Dhabi. He didn’t want to fight out of the country so he destroyed it. Well, his passport was lost but I called BS on that. I think that’s bulls**t, I think that’s total bulls**t. I’m pretty sure he destroyed it to not have to leave the country because he’s Sean so yeah.”
Chris Curtis explains why Sean Strickland will not be in his corner in London.. #UFC Full interview with @Actionman513 here ——> youtu.be/lDhcifYMfec https://t.co/G5xmpbkTpv
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UFC was running regular shows in Abu Dhabi, dubbed 'Fight Island' by Dana White. And while the accomodations and hospitality were top notch, many fighters found the flight time, jet lag, and fighting so early in the morning unpleasant.
Rather than have to deal with any of that, Sean Strickland decided to shut down any possibility of going by getting rid of the documents he'd need to leave the country.