Darren Till has officially parted ways with the UFC, but don’t expect to see him pop up in another MMA organization anytime soon.
The one-time UFC title challenger appeared on the Believe You Me podcast to talk about recently being released from the UFC per his request, including what that means for his fighting future and whether he’ll compete while also taking time off to recover from injuries.
” I spoke to [UFC executive] Hunter [Campbell] after my last fight, because Hunter has been on me since [Robert] Whittaker. “He’s always on me hard, like, ‘Darren Till, listen. We do believe in you, you’re going to go all the way, but we’re sick of you being injured. We’re just not putting up with it.’ This was for two years going on and I was always promising, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m OK now,’ but obviously I just haven’t been OK for two years. My body hasn’t been properly serviced.
“After my last fight I talked to Hunter. He said, “Hunter, listen. I really need to get myself in shape but I think I should do this outside the UFC.
“After the last fight, I spoke to Hunter. He said, “Hunter, listen, I really need to get my body right but I feel like it’s important to do this outside of the UFC .
“We spoke back and forth and then the other day it came up that they cut me, but obviously, they’d sent me release papers because I asked them if I could be released. And that was it, then the news just ran and my phone’s been non-stop never since. It’s an exciting new chapter, until I get back to .”
Till has struggled in recent years due to numerous injuries. He has had limited success and has only fought occasionally since then. With only one win, Till has only competed six times in 2018,. Till is currently on a three-fight losing streak with submission defeats in his past two outings.
Now, Till is a free agent, but out of respect to Campbell and UFC President Dana White, he doesn’t expect to make too many non-UFC appearances.
“I think it would be disrespectful,” Till said. “I’ve got a good relationship with Hunter and Dana, I think it would be disrespectful for me to say I’m going to go and fix my body and then take fights outside the UFC even though the past two days I’ve had some f****** crazy offers to fight on other shows. All the managers are texting me. “Someone is asking you to do this or that.” I say, okay. In my mind it would be quite disrespectful to Hunter and Dana to do that, whether I do it or not, it’s a different thing, you’ve got to think of yourself and money and that. I’m probably not going to do that.
“This is the thing. I’m striking-capable. Striking is my forte. It’s now that I feel it is time to fix them and service them properly. That’s .”
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Till assured hosts Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith that he’s doing well mentally and that at age 30 he still has plenty of time to recover. That doesn’t mean he’ll just be sitting on his laurels for the next couple of years though.
If possible, Till might dabble in other combat sports that don’t take the same toll on his body that MMA has.
“I’ve got a two-year plan in my mind,” Till said. It’s going be an f ****** amazing plan, and I will do my best to implement it. This is it. I won’t say much more, but it’s going to be a huge success. I’m going to probably do a striking match or two because that’s my forte and hopefully by then I’ll have figured out this f****** rupture with my knees and stuff and I’ll be good to go.
“Listen, how many guys go to the UFC and say, ‘Release me.’ How many guys actually do that? There are some guys that want to get out of UFC, such as Nate [Diaz]. But, there isn’t many men who can do that. I have had plenty of time to reflect on my decision. That’s why I was happy when Hunter actually said to me, ‘Till, think about it because it’s a big decision. Think about what you’re doing.’ And I said, ‘OK Hunter, I respect that. Give me two weeks to just think.’ I’ve thought of the plan, the route, the path, and I’ve got a full plan in place.”
Till was vague about his plans, but he said that he would like to get back to the UFC once he is healthy. Until then, he expects to maintain his strong relationship with Campbell and White.
“There are three main organizations, I won’t name them but they have said that I’m an attractive property, and anyone who wants to hire me will be happy to do so,” Till stated. “But as I said, everyone knows inside the sport what kind of guy I am. I’m probably a little bit of a maniac, but I’ve got my models and values and respect so I probably wouldn’t do that to Hunter and Dana, after my release just going off and signing with another organization. I wouldn’t do that, I’m a respectful guy. No matter how respectful people may think, I’ve always treated them with respect .”
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Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/3/3/23623569/darren-till-not-planning-to-fight-mma-outside-ufc-after-release-but-says-theres-been-crazy-offers?rand=96749
