Kamaru Usman has been officially named by the Ultimate Fighting Championship as a back-up for the UFC 228’s welterweight title fight between the current champion Tyron Woodley and Liverpool, England’s Darren Till.
While fans have generally welcomed the idea of a backup fighter for the bout, some have also seen it as an indication the promotion has concerns with Till making the 170 pound limit. Till has missed weight twice in his last four fights, most recently by 3.5 pounds in May against Stephen Thompson by 3.5 pounds. The issue of Till’s size reared its head again when he and Woodley squared off against each other at the official fight announcement, as the size disparity between the two was glaring.
Usman was a recent guest on The MMA Hour and was asked about his status as a replacement for both fighters before stating his belief that Till would struggle again to make weight.
“For Woodley, it’s not about making the weight, that’s not the issue,” Usman said. “He was a wrestler; it’s not about making the weight. If Woodley doesn’t fight it’s about something else. That’s the only reason Woodley is out.”
“With Darren Till, he’s shown that it’s a weight issue. He’s a big guy. It’s not his fault, he’s growing, he’s a human being — he’s a big guy. With Till, it could be a weight issue and it could be something else.
“That’s how I think of those guys. With Woodley, weight’s not going to be an issue, it’ll be something else. With Till it could be a number of things. I’m ready for either one of them. And I’m ready if nothing happens and I make weight. I did it in college every weekend for free.”
It might come as a surprise that Till has never fought professionally in the United States and Usman believes the weight cut this time out will be even harder than what he’s used to, due to the additional travel.
“With that Stephen Thompson fight, [Till] was given ample amount of time,” Usman said. “He knew about that awhile. He was training and training and they were basically just trying to get ‘Wonderboy’ to take the fight and fly where they were fighting. You had ample amount of time, you didn’t have to travel, you were in your hometown, you slept in your bed and things still got in the way of you making that weight. Now when you don’t have ample amount of time, you have 48 days to train and get down to weight…I saw him in Vegas he’s a big guy, a really big guy. Now it’s 48 days to make weight and you have to travel to America. It makes it a lot more difficult.”
“The Nigerian Nightmare” went on to compare Till to former light heavyweight contender Anthony Johnson, who fought as high as heavyweight after initially campaigning in the UFC as a welterweight.
“For [Till] it’s especially tough,” said Usman. “What it reminds me of is Anthony Johnson continuously trying to make 170 back in the day. This was the same struggle and I bet it’s the same for him.”