While the news didn’t break until UFC 244’s Fight Week, Kelvin Gastelum was well aware of Darren Till’s visa troubles.
New York, NY — Kelvin Gastelum had a bit of a nail-biter during UFC 244’s Fight Week, and that had nothing to do with Halloween.
The scare, instead, came when opponent Darren Till was delayed making it to New York City for the event, the result of some visa issues. The pair serve as the PPV card’s co-main event.
At the UFC 244 media day, Gastelum revealed that he’d been given a head’s up about Till’s troubles a week earlier. “We got told of the visa issues last week. I was told by the UFC that he will be cleared, he will be late, but he will be cleared.”
“Whenever the UFC says something, they stick to their word. So I have no issues with him being late,” he added.
The only issue Gastelum foresaw, he said, was the weight cut, which flying can wreak havoc with. And Till’s move to middleweight for their fight didn’t instill him with confidence, as Gastelum heard his opponent was “kind of big off-camp.”
That worry, however, was for not. Till hit the scales Friday morning and made weight, coming in right at the upper limit for middleweight at 186lbs.
Not that it would have mattered to Gastelum, who said he would have taken the fight either way. “I’ve been in that situation. So I feel like it wouldn’t make a difference,” he said.
As for the match-up itself, Gastelum feels both he and Till are in a similar situation. “I feel like we’re both, especially him, we’re kind of backed up into a corner right now,” he explained. “And somebody that’s backed up into a corner is very dangerous. And I think he’s very dangerous.”
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Darren Till goes down Saturday, November 2 at UFC 244, taking place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The card airs exclusively on PPV in North America.
