After his crushing loss to Derek Brunson in September 2021, the MMA community seemed to push Darren till away from the spotlight, seemingly counting him out.
Following the submission defeat Till has taken a few steps back from social media and left his fans wondering when the ‘Gorilla’ would return. And, when he does, can he return to his former glory?
The current ninth ranked middleweight is 1-2 in the 185lb division. However, many believe he still has time to turn his record around and make his claim for the middleweight belt.
At 25, Till found himself already fighting for a UFC championship, proving the company knew the fighter had the skill and the star power to hold his own amongst the elite.
Till’s best performances
Since the Scouser entered the UFC as an undefeated welterweight, he has had countless high-level performances. Possibly forgotten by many is the quality of fighters he has come up against in his Ultimate Fighting Championship career. His first big challenge in only his second bout was to face an undefeated Nicholas Dalby. Although the fight ended in a draw, both athletes would go on to be formidable opponents in the welterweight division.
It would be three fights later where he would face Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, a veteran of the sport who had fought for gold 18 months prior to the matchup. The American made his name in the lightweight division but at the time had moved up to 170lbs and found himself ranked sixth. Till was not yet ranked so the matchup surprised fans. It took Till less than one round to TKO the veteran, stapling his name into the elite welterweights.
Till followed this with a brawl in his own back yard – a bout with Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson in the (then) Echo Arena in Liverpool in May 2018. The five round fight showcased Till as being one of the best strikers on the planet, even scoring a knockdown on the karate style legend, something very few had done. It was that performance that ultimately led to his championship bout with Tyrone Woodley.
The move to middleweight
After his unfortunate losses, Till decided to make the move to middleweight, his first victory at the weight coming in 2019. A decision win over Kelvin Gastelum put the rest of the middleweight division on notice. A clean performance taking minimal damage left him in a good position to progress in the division. The Englishman’s performance against Robert Whittaker is regarded as one of the closest fights anyone has ever had with the former middleweight champion. Although the bout resulted in a loss, Till still had the eye of champion, Israel Adesanya, for a potential matchup.
The Liverpool fighter has been plagued with injuries and bout cancellations during his time with the UFC. Now 29, he has had five bouts cancelled at middleweight. The most recent injury came during his training camp for the Jack Hermanson bout in the co-main event at UFC London in July.
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Till told The Independent he believed he was at a low point, adding he felt depressed on the back of his run of injuries.
‘Smesh Bros’
Some time after his most recent loss to American wrestler Derek Brunson, Till began to train with the UFC’s newest superstar, Khamzat Chimaev. The most unlikely friendship was made between the two fighters, a kinship the media and fans went crazy for. Originally an ‘online beef’, the two quickly became friends whilst Till was in Sweden.
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The ‘Smesh Bros’ wasn’t just a friendship created for fun however. It begun when Darren took himself down to the All-star gym in Sweden where the Chechen wrestler resides. Till made the decision to take go to the gym where fighters like Chimaev, Alexander Gustafson and Ilir Latifi have become respective MMA grapplers during their time there.
The friendship continues with the two getting into all sorts of mischief and even Till being involved in Chimaev’s corners for his fights against Gilbert Burns and Kevin Holland.
Onto the next
As for his future plans, it was announced that the Scouser is targeting a comeback at UFC 282, hoping to fight South African Dricus Du Plessis. The 17-2 middleweight is coming off a unanimous decision win over Brad Tavares. Du Plessis is only ranked 13th in the 185lbs division but has gained a feared reputation and the proposed matchup led multiple journalists to say there are no tune up fights in the UFC.
‘Tune ups’ ‘tick overs’ ‘confidence builders’ don’t exist in the UFC.
Darren Till vs Dricus Du Plessis.
December.Straight back into the fire.
— Adam Catterall (@AdamCatterall) October 4, 2022
If Till can once again get back into the win column and injury free many ranked middleweights will jump at the chance to fight the striker. He has made enough enemy’s in his division to have the pick of the lot when they come calling.
