UFC 228: Tyron Woodley vs. Darren Till Backup Opponent Planned

Kamaru Usman will step in for one of Tyron Woodley or Darren Till should one of them pull out of their UFC 228 main event fight next month.

It was announced late July that Woodley would defend his welterweight title against the undefeated Till at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Sept. 8.

Usman will also be preparing for that date as he will serve as a backup plan, his manager Ali Abdelaziz confirmed to ESPN. The Nigerian native will submit all required medical forms in the state of Texas and weigh in along with the rest of the UFC 228 participants a day before the event.

In addition, Usman would also recently tweet, stating that he had a deep feeling he would be champion on the day of the event.

The need for backup fighters has become evident in recent years. Plenty of UFC fights, main events in particular, have been called off for a number of reasons, mostly due to injury or problems with the weight cut.

Heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov notably weighed in last month just in case one of Daniel Cormier or Stipe Miocic did not make the main event of UFC 226.

Woodley has had no problems making the weight and has never pulled out of a fight. Till meanwhile, has missed weight in two of his last four fights, including when he headlined in his hometown at UFC Liverpool against Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson in May.

The UFC were criticized for giving Till a title shot, but with interim welterweight champion Colby Covington unavailable to compete against Woodley in September, the Las Vegas promotion had no choice but to give the Englishman the chance.

Till though, has assured everyone he will make weight, even though he is notoriously big for the welterweight division. Should he not weigh in at 170 pounds, his fight against Woodley will become a non-title fight.

"I am going to make weight, even if I have to kill myself and be 10 percent, 20 percent worse on fight day," Till said. "I'm going to make that 170 mark. That's my fight. My fight's not the fight. I don't give a f--k about Tyron Woodley. My fight is the weight."

Usman meanwhile, has been calling for a big fight for months. The All-American wrestler is undefeated in the UFC (8-0) and most recently defeated Demian Maia via unanimous decision in May.

However, he has regularly complained about being avoided in the UFC.

"It’s extremely frustrating. Because the biggest excuse that the top five or top 10 guys are using against me is ‘he hasn’t fought anyone in the top 10 or the top five’. But how am I going to fight anyone in the top 10 if you all use the same excuse and all duck me?" Usman said in January. "It sucks because obviously this is the fight game. They’re only going to pay you when you step inside that Octagon. I would like to work something else out where if these guys are turning me down, I get something out of it. Because the biggest frustration for me is that I know how much I put into it. A lot of guys they train and they get a fight and then they get in the gym and get into training. That’s not me. This is my life. I get up everyday and do this whether I have a fight or I don’t have a fight."

Considering Usman is the backup fighter for the UFC 228 main event though, he is certainly getting closer to the welterweight strap, and should ideally be next in line after Covington.