Darren Till Plans To Use A Different Strategy To Put Jack Hermansson Away Early

Mandatory Credit: Jeff Bottari - Zuffa LLC

Ahead of his December 5th. UFC Fight Night headliner opposite fellow middleweight contender, Jack 'The Joker' Hermansson - popular Liverpool ace, Darren 'The Gorilla' Till has detailed his intentions to stray away from a counter fighting gameplan, to one that would see him put the Swedish all-rounder away in the early rounds.

Hoping to restart his siege toward middleweight gold, the former welterweight title challenger dropped a close decision defeat to former champion, Robert 'The Reaper' Whittaker at a UFC Fight Island event in July, Till meets with former Cage Warriors titleholder, Hermansson in December - with the victor likely to lay some solid foundations for a title challenge sometime next year.

Suffering an MCL injury following the close unanimous decision defeat, Till certainly had his moments against fan-favourite, Whittaker - landing fifty of one-hundred and eight attempted total strikes over the course of the entertaining five-round headliner.

Forced to regroup once again following a brief return to the win column at UFC 244 in November of last year in another close decision win over one-time interim title challenger, Kelvin Gastelum - Till spoke with MMA Junkie recently, where he pondered his upcoming clash with Hermansson, and how he plans somewhat of a different tactical approach than we've recently become accustomed to.

"I think he's (Jack Hermansson) going to come in and attack the neck and attack the legs and look for a quick sub (submission)," Till said. "So I've got to be physically and mentally prepared for that. I think it's going to be a very strategic fight. I don't think I'm going to play it sort of like my last few fights where I'm waiting to miss and hitting them with one shot. If I can defend all his attacks I'm just going to be looking to really put combinations together and put him out early. That's what I'm going to be looking for me."

Till's prediction of a submission heavy attempt from Hermansson would follow a similar trend of recent times for the 32-year-old grappler. Also featuring at a UFC Fight Island event in July - Hermansson tackled common-opponent, Gastelum - forcing the issue inside two minutes with a heel hook after a scramble.

The submission stoppage marked Hermansson's third win via submission in his last five wins, with eye-catching guillotine victories coming over grappling maestros, Gerald Meerschaert, and David Branch.