Sorting Through the Mess Around UFC 228's 2nd-Choice Main Event

Two things of note occurred late this week regarding Saturday's UFC 228 main event.

First, challenger Darren Till has become the slight betting favorite over welterweight champion Tyron Woodley after opening as a slight underdog, according to OddsShark.

Second, Till successfully made weight Friday morning, meaning the pair's 170-pound title fight can go off as scheduled at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The UFC won't have to go to Plan C and call in Kamaru Usman, who the company reportedly had standing by in case this fight fell apart at the last minute, per Chuck Mindenhall of MMA Fighting.

Till himself appeared testy this week when the topic of weight came up. Despite the fact the 25-year-old Liverpool native has missed the welterweight limit twice in six previous 170-pound bouts, he said the cut would be a non-issue.

He also warned asking about it in the future might be hazardous.

"Friday, all the talk will be done," Till said, per MMA NYTT's Damon Martin. "No motherf–-ker can ask me a question about weight again. He's getting slapped."

It goes without saying that it's not a good thing when the dominant storyline leading up to a title fight is whether one or both competitors will make weight. That's doubly true for Woodley vs. Till, a fight that while evenly matched has felt like a mess from the beginning.

For starters, the first draft of UFC 228 likely had Colby Covington cast in Till's role. The fight company had already gone through the rigmarole of making Covington interim welterweight champ following his victory over Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 225 in June.

With his loudmouth persona and Make America Great Again hats, Covington has quickly established himself as the UFC's newest villain. He's the exuberant, if not overly charismatic heir to Chael Sonnen's over-the-top antics from nearly a decade ago.

He was also the perfect foil for Woodley, a champion who has struggled to find a footing with UFC fans despite being undefeated for more than four consecutive years.

Unfortunately, Covington couldn't make the date owing to a recent surgery, so Till got the gig—perhaps a fight or two before he was truly ready to be a UFC bell cow.

Not that Till hasn't been good. On the contrary, he's gone 5-0-1 since arriving in the Octagon in 2015. If Covington is the natural descendant of Sonnen, perhaps the striking-friendly Till is a next-gen Michael Bisping and could one day be comparably important as an overseas draw.

But Till doesn't yet feel fully formed as a UFC star. Prior to wins over Donald Cerrone and Stephen Thompson, he hadn't faced any top-flight competition on the big stage.

In that way, Till feels just fine as a second choice UFC title challenger—but no better.

Then there is the matter of the weight.

Before he even fights for the welterweight title, Till is talking about moving up to middleweight. It's more or less assumed he'll make 185-pounds his full-time home soon—maybe even immediately following this fight.

Even if he beats Woodley Saturday—as the odds now ever so slightly suggest—there's a good chance Till merely vacates the title and moves up to a higher weight class.

If that's true, it's enough to make you wonder what exactly is the point of the UFC 228 main event, except that the UFC needed to put someone's title on the line at this pay-per-view.

Owing to a torn labrum suffered in his title defense against Demian Maia at UFC 214, Woodley hasn't fought in a little over a year. Before that, his listless second fight against Stephen Thompson didn't draw many rave reviews.

We already know Woodley is a great fighter capable of ferocious highlight-reel finishes—just see his knockout win over Robbie Lawler to claim the title at UFC 201. He can also rebound when the going gets rough, as evidenced by his first fight with Thompson.

But with Till also coming off a tepid unanimous-decision win over Thompson in May, there is some concern this bout shapes up as a stylistic snoozer.

So to recap: The dominant storylines around UFC 228 during the run-up were whether Till could make weight and whether he'll even stay at 170 long enough to make this fight worthwhile. As the cherry on top, there is a fear it might not be any fun to watch.

Not good.

But at least the winner might end up in a hot feud with Covington, right?

Not so fast.

Woodley has already said he's not interested in fighting Covington, though that could be a negotiating tactic on the part of the champion. If Till decamps for middleweight and leaves the 170-pound strap unclaimed, well, that's not great, either.

It's possible the organization will get no payoff at all from making Covington interim champ or from giving him the kind of push that could make him a serviceable title challenger.

In the end, the Woodley-Till bout isn't likely to jog the welterweight division out of the doldrums.