Issue 183

October 2019

This time last year Darren Till was unbeaten and on the cusp of his first-ever UFC title shot. A lot can change in 12 months though and following two high-profile defeats, “The Gorilla” is now at an important crossroads in his career.

Walking into the American Airlines Centre in Dallas, Texas last September, Darren Till had the world at his feet. With 17 victories already under his belt, Liverpool’s finest was just one win away from becoming only the second British UFC champion, but on the night, it wasn’t to be. Till was soundly beaten by the then-champion Tyron Woodley and was submitted in the second round with a D’arce choke after being knocked to the canvas with an explosive overhand right.

The Liverpudlian was then given the opportunity to put himself back into the title mix when he faced Jorge Masvidal six months later at UFC London, but the night again ended on a sour note. “Gamebred” silenced a raucous English crowd after picking himself up off the canvas in the first round and landing a devastating combination to knock Till out cold for the first time in his career. Till lay motionless on the canvas for a long period before finally coming to his senses and it was then it dawned on him that the fairy tale ending had once again slipped from his grasp.

Following his loss in London, Till took time away from the spotlight to think about what his next move. Speaking exclusively to Fighters Only recently, the Liverpudlian spoke openly about the pain of defeat and how he will have to change parts of his preparation going forward.

“It’s been a crazy few months,” Till said. “I trained hard for the Masvidal fight and I feel like I really put my work in for it. But, maybe it was my outside life and things going on outside of the gym [that wasn’t right]. I was focused, but when I was leaving the gym I wasn’t going home and resting; instead, I would be in the casino late at night and I don’t think the focus was 100 percent. It was probably like 50 percent and I know now that in this game it’s not good enough to compete at the highest level.”

Till started out the fight with Masvidal well and dropped the American in the first exchange. From there it went sharply downhill though as Till went headhunting and Masvidal responded with a beautiful three-piece combination towards the backend of the second round to put the Englishman’s lights out. Till admits the nature of the defeat was a bitter pill to swallow.

“In the fight, I just had this tunnel vision and I wanted to land hard on him,” Till said. “I got him early in the first, but he landed in the second and it was lights out. I think it was more hurtful because I always told myself I was like this superhuman and that I could never be knocked out. To get put out, it hurt a lot, but I’ve got over it. These things happen. The better man definitely won that night and I’ve always said that.”

The defeat came at a heavy price for Till. For the first time in his young career, the once so confident Scouser began to question himself. Having talked so openly about how he believes he will one day be considered the best fighter in the world, the critics started to come at him from all angles.

“I had reminded myself how much I’ve done and how those two losses don’t define me,” Till said. “It wasn’t just all in my own head though. The number of comments and messages I was getting through was unreal. I really had to stop myself [thinking about it.] I’ve had more than 100 wins in my career and I’ve beaten so many great fighters in both MMA and Muay Thai. Why was I letting two losses get me so down? I’m not going to lie; I was a little broken inside.”

Rebuilding his mental state wasn’t a battle he fought alone. In the months after his fight with Masvidal, Till called upon the expertise of a therapist based out in Colorado for help. Till quickly understood that getting things right wasn’t a matter of making radical changes to any one thing in particular, but rather making lots of small changes to make every aspect of his life better.

“I’ve been speaking with a guy who I went and met out in Colorado who’s been influencing me and helping me with some tips and tricks to make these improvements,” he continued. “He’s one of the best in the world and Colin [Heron] introduced me to him. I took a real bundle of tricks and techniques from him; some real solid advice. I’m just constantly working on myself now. I obviously had a problem with certain things, but he’s given me everything I need to work on them.” 

Whether he believes he was fully committed to training or not, Till refuses to offer any excuses for his losses to Woodley or Masvidal. The Liverpudlian would never say anything other than he was second-best on the night, but he still maintains that if he were to meet either of the two again that the result would be very different.

“Do I think Masvidal is a better fight than me? No, I don’t. I don’t think Tyron Woodley is a better fighter than me either,” Till said. “Both of them were better than me on the nights though and I can accept that. Some fighters will say after the fight that they didn’t win because they had injuries going into the fight. I think that’s bulls***. You can’t ever say that. Going into the fight they would’ve had full confidence that they could win that fight. If you have the fight and you lose you can’t use that as an excuse. I’ll never make excuses, but I know I’m a better fighter.”

Part of moving on from his two losses has been coming to terms with not listening to people outside of his circle. Following high-profile wins over Donald Cerrone and Stephen Thompson, Till was at the forefront of the public eye and it was an experience that he found both physically and mentally exhausting.

“I felt so drained ever since the Wonderboy fight,” Till said. “It felt like I just wasn’t on. Now I just want to do well by Colin and Team Kaobon. I want to do well by the UFC. I want to do well by my family. I want to do well by myself and everyone that supports me. Before I was trying to please everyone, but it’s all different now. I don’t need to please everyone and to do that would be impossible anyway. I’m famous for saying ‘I don’t care,’ but right now it’s true.”

Speaking in July, UFC President Dana White admitted that he and the UFC matchmakers may have pushed Till into a title fight too soon. It’s an opinion that the Liverpudlian respectfully disagrees with and he believes that the responsibility for his losses lies solely on his shoulders.

“I don’t agree with him,” Till said, regarding White’s comments. “I think I was wrong to myself and to my craft. I wasn’t fully committed 100 percent. There were days when I could’ve been at home just chilling and not been out. For the Woodley fight in particular, for that, I have to say I was in amazing condition. I trained like a monster. Then before the Masvidal fight, I wasn’t properly in it. I’m not making excuses. I’m just making an analysis of myself. I understand what Dana is saying, but I can’t agree with him.”

Whilst Till believes he was ready for the challenges of both Woodley and Masvidal, his head coach, Colin Heron, warned him that a high-profile victory over Cerrone would be the start of an unstoppable hype train. The Team Kaobon boss recently told ESPN that had he got his way, Till would’ve fought for the title much further down the line.

“When we got offered Cowboy, I said to Darren, ‘This fight has come three fights too early, in my opinion. It’s the perfect fight where you’ll probably knock Cowboy out, and then they’re just gonna come at you. If you’re prepared to make this run like you say you are, you’re not gonna get any breaks,’ Heron explained.

“I kind of wanted that fight three fights later. It would have given us another 12 to 18 months in the background. But Darren said, ‘No, I want to go for this.’ And I said, ‘OK, I’m with you all the way, but it’s going to mean two or three years of nonstop work.’ And that’s what he’s done.”

 Despite the two losses, fans and media alike are chomping at the bit to find out when Till will next grace the UFC Octagon. The UFC has been in contact with Till and his camp to put the feelers out on his return, but for the minute at least it looks like they might have to wait a while longer.

“When I’ll fight next? I don’t know if I’m honest,” Till said. “Right now I’m just focusing on getting everything right and improving every aspect of my life five or ten percent. I’m not going to say I’m going to radically change a load of things, but I’m going to making life better with some small improvements.

“The UFC has been on the phone but Colin told them I haven’t really been properly in the gym and that I’m not in the best of places right now,” he continued. “Dana [White] said he understood and was really good about it. I know they like me as a person and as a fighter.”

The Liverpudlian knows that when he does make a comeback there will be no shortage of people tuning in to see how he fares. One positive he took away from his experience headlining UFC London in March was the fact that the UFC’s eleventh visit to English capital was their most lucrative yet and drew an attendance of 16,602 with a live gate of over $2.4 million.

“Look, regardless of the outcome of London, look at what that event was,” he continued. “I’ve watched it back and it was full to the brim. No disrespect to anyone else that was on that card because they’re all great competitors, but that card got sold out because of my name and no one else. That’s not me being cocky or arrogant. It’s a fact. It sold out because of me. It was the highest gate they’ve ever had in pounds (£).”

Till’s difficulties making the welterweight limit have been widely publicized and it’s an issue that he’s burdened with ever since he came in heavy for his fight with Thompson at UFC Liverpool last May. A move up to middleweight looks like it could be on the cards in the near future and after watching former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw struggle to make the flyweight weight limit earlier this year he was able to draw a comparison with his own situation.

“When he [Dillashaw] fought Cejudo he did look physically – he looked like me at 170,” Till said. “He just didn’t look like TJ, because TJ’s a beast. Cejudo is a very good fighter as well, but I think it would have been different at a higher weight.

“I do have to think about being outsized at middleweight,” he continued. “I wouldn’t be small at 185. I’d be right in the mix in there with them guys. The great guy, the interim champ Israel [Adesanya] is a great fighter. The champ [Robert Whittaker] is a good fighter. There are a few beasts. The one guy who is a scary guy is Yoel [Romero].”

 Whilst Till would seem to welcome a move up to 185 pounds, one man who isn’t so quick to pull the trigger is head coach Heron. According to Heron, Till’s diet and behavior outside of camp appear to be the root cause of his difficulties making 170 pounds and he wants to see Till attempt the weight whilst following a strict diet and training regime.

”The obvious answer is, ‘He has a tough weight cut and needs to go up,’ correct?” Heron told ESPN in a recent interview. “What people don’t see is the lifestyle between fights. It’s hard for me to make correct decisions until I see a fighter, especially Darren, walking around lean between fights.

”Here’s the problem with Darren Till, and it’s no secret: He eats s***. As disciplined as he is in the gym, between fights, he will eat the most amount of s*** you’ve ever seen in your life.”

“The fact of the matter is he will probably be a middleweight, but whether it’s now or later, I don’t know,” he said. “My only concern is he goes up to middle(weight), and that will give him the license to eat more. Then we end up with just as big of a cut, but with bigger consequences in the actual fight. I would like to get him lean and then make a decision.”

Whether Till returns at welterweight or middleweight remains to be seen, but one man who still believes he has all the tools to go on to be a UFC champion is Michael Bisping. With time on Till’s side, Bisping thinks the Liverpudlian can go on to follow in his footsteps and become the second UFC champion from the UK. The UFC Hall of Famer knows better than anyone what it takes to come back from a devastating knockout loss and he sees Till following a similar path.

“He had all the makings of being a champion,” Bisping said of Darren Till. “And then not to mention, he followed that win [Donald Cerrone] with a win over Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson. It was very close, but Tyron Woodley had two incredibly close fights with Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson. ‘Wonderboy’s’ definitely there, he’s at that level. He’s one of the best in the world and a very tricky customer and a tricky style.

“If Till and Tyron fought another five times, I guarantee the outcome would be different,” he continued. “I’m not saying Till would beat him, I’m just saying I doubt it would be so one way. And then, of course, he followed it up with a loss to Masvidal, which really hurt his stock. But the thing for Till, what is he? I think he’s like 26. He’s still very, very young. So let him take some time, recover, take some time off. He’ll be back.”

Though the return date remains unannounced, Till maintains he will definitely fight again before the end of the year. Whether it’s at welterweight or middleweight only time will tell, but there will no doubt be plenty of fighters in both divisions hoping he stays out of their lane.

Fighters often have to focus on healing physical wounds and injuries following visits to the cage, but for Till it’s clear to see that the time away from the Octagon has been mostly spent healing the mental scars that came with suffering his first knockout loss.

Whether “The Gorilla” can return to the devastating form that earned him a UFC title shot remains to be seen. Don’t bet against it though. After all, wounded animals are always the most dangerous.