Darren Till hasn’t been afraid to make enemies during his time in the UFC. The native of Liverpool, England knows that there will be heat between him and his potential adversaries.

When it comes to recent trash talk, however, Till finds himself caught in the crosshairs of ninth-ranked UFC middleweight contender Uriah Hall. Why? Why?

“He’s just come out of nowhere. He’s just like coming for me,” Till told ESPN. “Uriah, I don’t know. He’s… I can’t even put into words. It’s all confusing. He’s saying I’ve blocked him on Instagram, that I’m running from a fight with him, and he doesn’t know I’m injured or whatever. Yeah, Uriah. I was injured, I didn’t block you on Instagram, my Instagram got deleted. Yes, I am not running away from you. When I moved up to middleweight, I personally phoned Dana White and asked him for the hardest fight after the champ at the time, which was Kelvin Gastelum. You are not running from me, friend. I am not running from you.”

Till’s first fight of 2021 was set to be a main event encounter with Italy’s Marvin Vettori in April before an injury forced him to withdraw. He wouldn’t be back in the Octagon until September, when “The Gorilla”, would face Derek Brunson.

Till was excited about the Vettori fight and enjoyed their banter. Till has become well-known for his personality over the years, while Vettori is a man who wears his heart on it.

” I don’t get annoyed by it, but I do find it confusing. I keep going. “[Hall’s] was just speaking — as if Marvin and I were going to be fighting. He’s going to break me and my sh*t. I liked that. Marvin is a man who works hard, believes in himself, and is emotional. He strives to achieve the highest level of excellence. How can I discredit a guy whose put his whole life into it? It was wonderful.

“Uriah is just saying, “You blocked me in Instagram.” What’s this got to do? (laughs). Okay. So I am afraid of you. I have blocked you from Instagram. You’re doing great. If we’re gonna fight, we’re gonna fight. I’m not scared.”

It’s been a rough go for Till since moving up in weight in 2019. With a 1-4 record in his last five outings, Till boasted a clean 17-0-1 record prior. Hall, on the other hand, also suffered a recent setback that snapped a four-fight winning streak when dropping a unanimous decision to Sean Strickland in July 2021.

Till went to the Allstars gym, a Swedish facility that is most well-known for its production of Alexander Gustafsson (and Khamzat Chimaev) in an effort to rectify his mistakes. Till and Chimaev posted footage from their training sessions this month that went viral. After Till’s third round defeat to Brunson, Chimaev offered Till his assistance.

“In the aftermath of the fight I saw that Khamzat had tweet me and congratulated Derek. He was then like: ‘Till. Do you want to train with me here? He said, “The doors are open.” “And we spoke a lot on DM’s. Everyone has seen the Instagram Live where we talked about fighting. He was the kind of person who doesn’t care what others think. He was just a guy who trains hard, was a little bit crazy, and stuff like that.

“I’ve come here not as Darren Till the UFC superstar, I’ve come here as, in my head, Darren Till the beginner — who’s starting over, Darren Till 2.0. It would be easy to stop fighting, but I believe I have accomplished a lot. I don’t even feel like I’ve begun yet. There have been twists, turns and highs and lows, but I am here because I believe I can become a champion and a legend. My team and I have made the decision to go out and do some .”

work.

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TOP STORIES

Incident. Cain Velasquez faces attempted murder charge for alleged shooting in San Jose.

Gold. Valentina Shevchenko vs. Taila Santos targeted for UFC 275 in June.

Rivals. Jorge Masvidal says Colby Covington will “sniff my crotch all night long” at UFC 272.

Champ. Gegard Mousasi has sights set on the light heavyweight title by 2022’s end.

Replacement. Renato Moicano fills in for Rafael Fiziev against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 272.

Enemies. Maryna Moroz intends on turning Mariya Agapova’s head into a “mashed potato” at UFC 272.

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VIDEO STEW

UFC 272 Embedded.

Father Masvidal.

The Catch up with Cris Cyborg.

Masvidal’s debut.

A Tyson Fury’s “faceoff .”

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Burroughs vs. Makhachev…?

Kayla doesn’t like Cyborg.

Weili at work.

Cub Swanson levels up.

Chris Daukaus chimes in on Cain Velasquez.

Ferguson too?!

RIZIN Landmark 2 bout order.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Rafael dos Anjos (30-13) vs. Renato Moicano (16-4-1); UFC 272, Mar. 5

Alyse Anderson (5-2) vs. Asha Roka (4-2); ONE: X, Mar. 26

Itsuki Hirata (5-0) vs. Jihin Radzuan (7-2); ONE: X, Mar. 26

Jennifer Maia (19-8-1) vs. Manon Fiorot (8-1); UFC Columbus, Mar. 26

Jake Collier (13-6) vs. Justin Tafa (5-3); UFC Vegas 53, Apr. 30

Amanda Ribas (11-2) vs. Michelle Waterson (18-9); UFC 274, May 7

Valentina Shevchenko (22-3) vs. Taila Santos (19-1); UFC 275, June 11

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FINAL THOUGHTS

The UFC flyweight division has started to get really fun and competitive throughout on the women’s side. Hell, 125 pounds is just great overall regardless of gender. But as talented as many of the newer female faces making waves are, it’s still tough to imagine someone catching up to Shevchenko. Perhaps Santos will be fighting in the next title fight. Fiorot? Time will tell. Thank you for reading.

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EXIT POLL

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