Darren Till vs. Yoel Romero Set for BKFC Manchester on Sept. 26

Darren Till is running it back on the bare-knuckle circuit, and he's picked a heavy hitter to do it. The 18-5-1 former UFC welterweight and middleweight headlines BKFC's Manchester card on Sept. 26 against Yoel Romero, with the promotion's David Feldman confirming the booking on Monday. The bout goes down at a 190-pound catchweight inside the AO Arena.

This is Till's second gloveless outing after signing a multi-fight deal with BKFC earlier this year. His debut in May didn't start clean — he ate a flash knockdown in round one against Aaron Chalmers before roaring back for a brutal finish. That's a fitting preview of what Manchester is likely to serve up.

Two Sluggers, One Question

Romero, the former UFC middleweight title challenger, isn't the kind of name you ease into. The Cuban debuted for BKFC in 2025 with a knockout, then dropped a controversial decision in his second bare-knuckle fight — though that one happened outside the promotion, for a Russian outfit. He arrives in England looking to reset the ledger.

The size gap is the storyline here. Till is stepping up to face a physically bigger man with a wrestling base and one-punch power, in a format that strips away four ounces of protection on every exchange. When two fighters like this trade at close range, fights rarely go the distance quietly.

For context, Till's MMA résumé leans more on volume and craft than pure knockout numbers — his 18 wins include just 10 finishes by strikes. But bare-knuckle changes the math. Less padding, faster cuts, quicker stoppages. His last cage appearance ended in a round-three neck-crank loss to Dricus Du Plessis, so a hometown crowd in Manchester is a welcome change of scenery.

What's Left to Fill

The rest of the card is still coming together, with more matchups expected over the next few weeks. BKFC has been aggressive on the star front lately, folding in familiar UFC names and even lining up Conor McGregor to host a new competition series. Till versus Romero, though, is the kind of headliner that sells a building on its own.