Darren Till forced out of Jack Hermansson fight, “The Joker” receives new opponent

Darren Till will not be fighting Jack Hermansson in the UFC main event on December 5 as originally planned.

Shortly after Till lost to Robert Whittaker it was announced he would be taking on Hermansson in December barring his knee was healed. Now, according to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, the Englishman has been forced out of the fight with an injury. However, rising contender, Kevin Holland has agreed to step up on short notice to fight Hermansson.

Hermansson’s reps say they sought a ranked replacement, but several of them turned it down and Hermansson was determined to get one more fight in before end of the year. Holland looking to become the first middleweight in UFC history with five wins in a single calendar year.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) November 6, 2020

“Breaking: Injury has forced Darren Till out of his UFC Fight Night main event against Jack Hermansson on Dec. 5 in Las Vegas. Kevin Holland steps in as a replacement. Hermansson’s reps say they sought a ranked replacement, but several of them turned it down and Hermansson was determined to get one more fight in before end of the year. Holland looking to become the first middleweight in UFC history with five wins in a single calendar year,” Okamoto reports.

It is obviously disappointing news for Darren Till as a win over Hermansson would’ve put him in the driver’s seat to earn a title shot at middleweight.

As for ‘The Joker’, Jack Hermansson, he returned to the win column in July with a 78-second heel hook submission win over Kelvin Gastelum. Before that, he suffered a TKO loss to Jared Cannonier to snap his four-fight winning streak where he beat Jacare Souza and David Branch among others.

Kevin Holland, meanwhile, has had a tremendous 2020 as he is the only fighter in the UFC to go 4-0 in the year. Holland is coming off a first-round win over Charlier Ontiveros on Halloween night. Before that, he picked up wins over Darren Stewart, Joaquin Buckley, and Anthony Hernandez.

This is a big step up in competition for Holland but if he can get past Hermansson, he could very well see himself in a No. 1 contender fight.

Who do you think will win, Jack Hermansson or Kevin Holland?