UFC welterweight Darren Till is currently on a two-fight losing streak. After being stopped by then-champion Tyron Woodley in the UFC 228 headliner, Till was viciously knocked out by Jorge Masvidal earlier this year at UFC London. 

In a recent interview with ESPN, UFC president Dana White said he felt the promotion deserved to take some of the blame for what’s transpired with 26-year-old Till’s career.

“I think Till went back to the drawing board,” White said. “He’s a young guy. After the win over (Donald Cerrone), we may have pushed him too soon. It happens sometimes when a guy gets that much steam behind him. Pump the breaks a little here. Let him get back and work on the things he needs to work on. He’s going to be around.”

White also believes Till’s recent struggles are a result of both an emphatic UFC breakthrough fight against “Cowboy” and the stacked nature of the 170-pound division.

“You come in and beat a guy like ‘Cowboy,’ and boom, you immediately get bounced right up into the middle of the rankings,” White said. “(For) some people it’s the perfect time and (for) some people (it’s) a little soon. That weight division is nasty. It’s like murderers row in that top eight.”

According to White, the UFC doesn’t have a specific time, place or opponent in mind for Till’s next fight.

“We’ll give him some time, look for a next opponent, and see what’s next for him,” White said.

It’s no secret “The Gorilla” is a massive welterweight who cuts a tremendous amount of weight to make the 170-pound limit. The Brit has openly considered a move up to middleweight. No one is sure when or if he will move up, not even his boss.

“That I don’t know,” White said when he was asked if Till would make the ascent up to 185 pounds for his next outing.

For more on the upcoming UFC schedule, visit the UFC Rumors section of the site.

UFC heavyweight Todd Duffee will return sooner than expected.

The promotion today made official a quintet of bouts for the upcoming UFC on ESPN+ 16 card, including a heavyweight bout between Duffee and Jeff Hughes. The fights were first reported Tuesday by Vancouver newspaper The Province.

Additional bouts confirmed include Glover Teixeira (29-7 MMA, 12-5 UFC) vs. Nikita Krylov (24-6 MMA, 6-4 UFC), Antonio Carlos Junior (10-3 MMA; 7-3 UFC) vs. Uriah Hall (14-9 MMA, 7-7 UFC) vs. Andrew Sanchez (11-4, 4-2 UFC) vs. David Branch (22-6, 4-5 UFC) and Marcin Tybura (17-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) vs. Augusto Sakai (13-1-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC).

UFC on ESPN+ 16 takes place Sept. 14 at a venue to be announced in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The event’s main card airs on ESPN+.

In an April interview with MMA Junkie Radio, Duffee (9-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC)  indicated his return timeline was unknown and said he may need another knee surgery. He recently moved to Las Vegas to do physical therapy full-time at the UFC Performance Institute. A comeback this past July was nixed by a crazy health scare that extended Duffee’s layoff of over three years. Most recently, he was knocked out by ex-champ Frank Mir in July 2015 at UFC Fight Night 71.

Hughes, a Contender Series vet, returns to the cage after a split-call loss to Maurice Greene in his debut in March.

Teixeira hopes to make it three in a row after a second-round submission of Ion Cuțelaba at UFC on ESPN+ 8 in April. The onetime title challenger is 7-4 since a loss to current champ Jon Jones.

Krylov returns to the cage after his own second-round submission in a bout against Ovince Saint Preux, which put him back in the win column after a submission loss to Jan Blachowicz in his first fight since leaving the promotion for a tour of the international circuit.

Tybura has been on a 1-3 skid since a three-fight win streak upped his stock. Most recently, he was stopped by Shamil Abdurakhimov at UFC on ESPN+ 7.

Sakai has been on a tear. The Brazilian signed with the UFC after a stint on the Contender Series and picked up wins over Chase Sherman and ex-champ Andrei Arlovski.

For more on the UFC on ESPN+ 16, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.