Darren Till is in for a tough fight at UFC 282, but it’s possible his worst pain is already behind him.
In preparation for Dricus du Plessis’s middleweight fight at T-Mobile Arena Las Vegas on Saturday, Till was subject to an eye poke. He shared the photos as part of a series on social media.
At UFC 282 media day Wednesday in Las Vegas, Till told MMA Fighting’s Jose Youngs that the poke was so bad he thought his upcoming fight was in jeopardy.
” I was wrestling on the floor, and I attempted a takedown. I have no idea why — it was the most horrible thing that could happen to me!” Till stated. “The guy’s middle finger, I felt it go to the back of my brain. I actually tried to carry on wrestling. Anatoly [Malykhin] — he just won in ONE Championship there — he was like, ‘Sit down. Sit your ass down.’
” It got worse over time and I thought, “I cannot pull out of another fight.” But it started to get better, now it’s okay. This was the most painful eye poke I have had, and probably any person has ever experienced. It was awful when it occurred. It’s all part of the camp, isn’t it ?”
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Till has had a hard time stringing fights together over the past few years, logging just one fight in 2020 and one in 2021. Injuries have kept him from high-profile talks with Jack Hermansson and Marvin Vettori on several occasions.
When the photo of his eye went up on Instagram, he didn’t realize it would create such a stir, and he didn’t intend to make fans worry that he was going to miss another opportunity to compete.
“I actually didn’t share it,” Till said. “When I share s***, I don’t think. Now, I have to think a little more. I just shared my week of training.
” I was in an ice bath, so that my eye photo was there. Christian said that Chael [Sonnen] had sent the picture and was saying, “Post it to get out of this fight.” So I don’t even know .
Till is well aware that injuries have slowed his career, but a couple of weeks shy of his 30th birthday, he remains optimistic that better days lie ahead. He is coming off of a lopsided submission loss to Derek Brunson in his most recent outing, and though he credits Brunson for his performance, he noted that he was at less than 100 percent.
” I don’t speak much about my injury because everyone knows that I was hurt,” Till stated. “I couldn’t really do much for the fight, I just didn’t want to pull out of the fight, that was the thing it was back then. Although I have a lot of people calling me “I pull out”, I did take that fight. I was absolutely f*****. I’m not taking anything away from Derek, he beat me fair and square, but I was only able to prepare for that fight in one way and that was just a little bit of boxing pads and a little bit of the bike.
” I have had a great camp this summer, I trained hard and had good friends. I think if you look at me, you’re going to look at me on the scale whenever the [weigh-ins are], I’m going to be looking like what I used to look like.”
Till’s opponent Du Plessis had some strong words for him during his own media day scrum, threatening that Till might leave Las Vegas with another injury even if he’s coming into their fight with perfect health.
It’s a threat that Till is taking seriously, though he warns that if Du Plessis wants to escalate their war of words ahead of the fight, it won’t end well for the former KSW champion.
“That isn’t trash talk,” Till stated. “I’ve met these South Africans, they’ve never used profanity in their life, so they can’t trash talk me. These are the things he meant. He’s well prepared, and I’m sure he will be a strong challenger. But we’ll just have to wait and see. We’ll see. If he wants to get into it though, I’ll ruin his life on social media. Don’t let that .”
get in your face.
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/12/7/23499145/darren-till-suffered-brutal-eye-poke-in-ufc-282-training-camp-i-felt-it-go-to-the-back-of-my-brain?rand=96749
