In 2018, Darren Till had the world at his feet. A single majority draw against Nicolas Dalby in 2015 was the closest anyone had come to defeating the dominant welterweight in 18 professional bouts. His title challenge against Tyron Woodley at UFC 228 was inevitable. His resounding defeat—a submission loss (d’arce choke) in the second round—wasn’t.
Six months later, Till was floored by “BMF” Jorge Masvidal at UFC London, the first knockout defeat of his career. The uncharacteristic skid was followed by negative headlines outside the Octagon.
After Till returned to the winning column with a split decision win against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244, he opened up about the blow to his confidence he suffered following the Woodley loss.
“Before Woodley, there was no guy who could beat me. And then two losses like that? It just took a lot away from me inside of me. I didn’t say it, but I fought some hard demons. Then obviously getting arrested and there’s other things. You lose sponsors and it’s a (expletive) whirlwind. It’s good and it’s bad.”
“Just to get in there tonight, I tell you,” Till continued. “I was trying to fake an injury before walking out. I was thinking of an injury to fake because I just simply did not want to get in there.”
With a successful start under his belt on his shift back to middleweight, a class he hadn’t competed in since 2014, the nerves might be behind him, but Till says having known defeat, that fear of losing again will never leave.
“Every fight, no matter what any fighter will ever tell you, they will be scared,” Till said. “If they tell you they’re not, it’s a blatant lie. This fighter wasn’t scared; I was terrified. I wasn’t shaking, but I just didn’t want to go. The magnitude of the event – I was doubting. I was thinking of ways to get out of the fight. This was only today and I’m just so scared.”
