Till says Askren needs to ‘work his way up the ranks’ before he accepts fight
Darren Till isn’t sure if Ben Askren is deserving of a fight with him.
Ben Askren has got it in for Darren Till.
‘Funky’ has been calling out ‘The Gorilla’ on social media for months, and both men will finally meet face-to-face when Askren travels to London this weekend for UFC Fight Night 147, where Till takes on wily veteran Jorge Masvidal in the main event.
If Till wins, Askren is planning on calling him out. But speaking to MMA Fighting in a recent interview, Till, who is looking to rebound from his submission loss to Tyron Woodley, said he may snuff the former Bellator and ONE FC welterweight champion.
Till feels Askren needs to ‘work his way up the ranks’ before he accepts a fight against him.
“He can call out, but he’s gotta work his way up the ranks as well,” Till said. “It all depends on who I want to fight next — not him. He only has one fight in the UFC. He needs to work his way up.”
Many fans were underwhelmed by Askren’s UFC debut against Robbie earlier this month, which saw Askren walk away with the submission win despite Lawler not tapping out.
Till, however, feels Askren put on a good show and deserved to win the fight.
“I don’t know [if it was] legitimate fashion,” Till said. “I think he won the fight. I think it was a good stoppage. But he definitely got a hard fight in Robbie Lawler. You can’t take the credit away. He did win the fight. The referee stopped it, so he obviously won the fight.”
Although Till has found himself the frequent subject of Ben’s trash talk, the Liverpudlian knows it’s not personal.
“I think he’s just promoting,” Till said. “Ben is a smart guy. I don’t know if he hates me. If he does, that’s just up to him. I don’t really give a f*ck about Ben any. I couldn’t care less what he’s doing, what he’s saying. I just reply when he tries to beef it up and it’s all good. It’s all business from me.”
UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal takes place this Saturday, March 16 at the O2 Arena in London, England.