Darren
Till (18-5) doesn’t think very highly of the
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s middleweight division.
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Till parted ways with the UFC in February 2023 on the heels of a
three-fight skid, vowing to return to the promotion and win a title
in the future. The former UFC welterweight title challenger, who
also competed at middleweight, was recently asked to weigh in on
the current rosters of both divisions.
“I think middleweight is wide open mate,” Till recently told
TalkSport. “This is going to [make people] mad. I know for a fact I
can beat [Dricus Du
Plessis], I know I can beat Sean
Strickland, I know I can beat Paulo
Costa. They’re all the guys at the top. Now I missed Izzy’s
[Israel
Adesanya] name out there cause that’s a fight that could have,
would have or should have happened. Who knows one day? But that
division I know is wide open for me to be the champion. It’s quite
frustrating to be honest.”
However, Till isn’t undermining the welterweight division in any
way. The Liverpool, England, native deemed 170 to be a
highly-stacked division with a “phenomenal” champ in Leon
Edwards at the helm. While Till has traded barbs with Edwards
in the past, he is admittedly now a huge fan of “Rocky.”
“Welterweight: different ballgame altogether,” Till said. “A lot of
solid competitors, especially the champion, which I’m a big fan of
by the way. I know we’ve had our back and forth over the years but
you know I’m a huge fan of Leon. I come from a striking background
myself; me and him have done a few rounds… I think he is a
phenomenal fighter, think he is a phenomenal guy. That’s what I’ve
got to say about the two divisions, the middleweight division’s
there for me to take it and the welterweight division is just
stacked full of solid guys.”
Till started his UFC journey with a six-fight unbeaten streak to
earn a welterweight title shot against Tyron
Woodley in 2018. The then 17-0 prospect went on to suffer a
submission loss against Woodley and never quite managed to regain
the momentum he once seemed to possess. Till went 1-5 in the UFC
following his title loss, albeit all of his losses came against
elite competition.
Till was scheduled to make his boxing debut against Julio Cesar
Chavez Jr. on the Jake Paul vs.
Mike Tyson undercard this July. While the card has now been
postponed to November, Till still expects to be a part of the show.