UFC 244: Darren Till vs Kelvin Gastelum Prediction and Preview

After two devastating losses in welterweight division, Darren Till makes his middleweight debut against one of the best fighters in the division, Kelvin Gastelum. It is not an easy fight for Till considering it’s his first fight in the division and he is coming from a brutal knockout loss on top of that. There are a few factors that make Gastelum an easy pick for this fight, but let’s dive into it and try to predict the outcome of the co-main event of UFC 244. Here is Darren Till vs Kelvin Gastelum Prediction.

Darren Till:

The rising star from England is on the lowest of his career after two the losses from Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal. A few questions are there surrounding Till’s middleweight debut.

Is his chin still good enough after that brutal knock out against Masvidal? Although Till was winning the fight against Masvidal until the lightning struck, Till tends to lower his guard often. Tyron Woodley caught him with a big punch when Till was going for his trademark left with guard down, and even Masvidal caught him when Till was fighting with his chin up and hands down. He can not take too many shots at middleweight when you are fighting powerful strikers such as Gastelum, Romero, and Cannonier. So hopefully Till has done enough improvement in his strikings.

That apart, is the conditioning still there to fight at a high pace? Looking at the insane fight Gastelum had with Adesanya, Till better be prepared for a three-round war. Gastelum likes to fight at a fast pace and if he decides to wrestle then that will certainly test the conditioning of Till. So it would be interesting to see how the cardio holds up for Till in middleweight division.

Kelvin Gastelum:

Gastelum is one hell of a fighter. He is a great wrestler and he has proven that he can hurt his opponents out as well. However, he is not good at finishing fights. The only notable finish he has in the division is against Michael Bisping who took the fight on short notice and was way off his prime. Gastelum had Adesanya rocked for a couple of times in the fight and yet he could not finish him, instead, he went for the takedowns after hurting Adesanya.

Darren Till was a huge welterweight and although he won’t be big middleweight he will surely be more powerful and bigger than Gastelum in this fight. That’s a disadvantage Gastelum would have to deal with in this fight.

Darren Till vs Kelvin Gastelum Prediction:

Talking about how this fight would go, it can go either way. It’s very unlikely that we are going to see an early knockout. This fight is likely to go to judges’ cards or else a late-round finish.

Till is a more refined striker compared to Gastelum and he will have a gigantic reach advantage. But he needs to fight smart. If he gets overconfident like in the Masvidal fight, Gastelum will close the distance and rock him. However, if he uses the reach to bis advantage he can inflict serious damage on Gastelum with the kicks and jabs. Till is not likely to knock out Gastelum with one punch, but he can get a late-round TKO and a decision win.

Saying Gastelum has no chance to win at all would be dumb move here. However, he needs to change his game plan here Agreed, he had a ton of success against Adesanya in the striking department, but Till will throw with more power than Adesanya who depends on his timing and precision more. If Gastelum takes the fight to the ground, he may have success over there, but Till can defend the takedowns if not out wrestler Gastelum.