"I thought he was supposed to fight that one guy" - Michael Chandler wonders why Darren Till is facing Jack Hermansson instead of Joaquin Buckley
![(Back images, L to R) Michael Chandler (via ufc.com), Joaquin Buckley, Jack Hermansson, and Darren Till. (Front image) Till, Khamzat Chimaev and Buckley [via Khamzat Chimaev on YouTube]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2022/05/d9a23-16513655647075-1920.jpg?w=500)
Michael Chandler has taken a friendly dig at Darren Till regarding the latter's upcoming bout against Jack Hermansson. 'The Gorilla' is scheduled to face Hermansson at the UFC's return to London on July 23. 'Iron' questioned the matchup as Till was supposedly keen on fighting Joaquin Buckley after his recent spat with 'New Mansa'.
Reacting to the announcement of the upcoming bout between Till and Hermansson, Chandler wrote on Twitter:
"I thought he was supposed to fight “that one guy” who talked to him back stage?"
I thought he was supposed to fight “that one guy” who talked to him back stage? twitter.com/MMAJunkie/stat…
Chandler clarified that he was only poking fun since Till fighting Buckley didn't make sense to him either. Responding to a fan, 'Iron' wrote:
"For sure... I was joking. No way that fight made sense"
@CommanderMma For sure...I was joking. No way that fight made sense
Joaquin Buckley approached Darren Till and Khamzat Chimaev at the UFC 273 weigh-ins, leading up to Chimaev's iconic battle against Gilbert Burns. 'New Mansa' asked Till if he was ready to get back into action, and 'The Gorilla' immediately showed interest. The seemingly amicable encounter ended after the duo shook hands on a potential meeting in July.
As Buckley walked away, 'Borz' asked Till who the guy was, and 'The Gorilla' claimed to be unaware of his identity. Not impressed by Buckley's approach, Chimaev hit back at 'New Mansa', challenging him to fight right there. Security stepped in to stop matters from escalating further.
Watch the incident below:
Darren Till will look to revive his career with a win over Jack Hermansson
In his first six UFC outings, Darren Till scored five wins and one draw in a 'Fight of the Night' performance against Nicolas Dalby. This propelled the Liverpudlian to a welterweight title shot against Tyron Woodley, which he lost via second-round submission. It was Till's first professional loss, taking his record to 17-1-1.
'The Gorilla' then suffered a brutal knockout loss to Jorge Masvidal in front of his home crowd in London, also marking the beginning of Masvidal's stardom. Till then moved up to middleweight, making a successful debut against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244.
However, Till's success was short-lived as he went on to drop consecutive bouts against Robert Whittaker and Derek Brunson. Having gone 1-4 in his last five, a victory over Jack Hermansson is pivotal for Till to stay relevant as a contender. His recent bond with Khamzat Chimaev has hopefully helped 'The Gorilla' enough to emerge victorious in front of his home crowd.