Darren Till hasn’t given up on his goal of becoming UFC champion.
Till (18-3-1 MMA, 6-3-1 UFC) was recently on the cusp of earning another shot at gold, this time at 185 pounds, but fell short in his pursuit.
The former UFC welterweight title challenger was edged out by Robert Whittaker in the UFC on ESPN 14 headliner in July, where he suffered a torn MCL in the second round.
But despite losing three of his past four, Till is confident that he still has what it takes to reach the top, and it’s only a matter of time.
“I don’t think it’s a matter of how long it takes,” Till told ESPN. “I don’t know, I have no goal. I think when the time’s ready – I know what I was put on this earth for, no one can convince me otherwise. I was put on this earth to be a champion in the UFC and be a future GOAT, so when it happens, it’s going to happen. Until then, I’m just going to enjoy my last few days here (Dubai), and then I’m going to look forward to my next fight.”
He continued, “I just want to fight, I just want to be the best. I can’t do anything else. I will not be able to retire if I don’t become one of the best. … I have to do it, I’ve got to do it, and I’m so determined and convinced. I’m going to train harder, and I’m going to be more vicious and violent as ever.”
Till said he won’t require surgery on his right knee, and while he suffered the injury early in the fight, he said he’s not one to use it as an excuse. It was a close fight, and Till thinks the performance he put up against the former UFC middleweight champion was a good indicator of where he stands in the division.
“When people give excuses and stuff over little things in life and the weight cuts or whatever, it just doesn’t cohere with me,” Till said. “You either win a fight or you lose a fight. There ain’t no ifs, buts, whats. Yeah, if my knee was a little bit better, maybe things would have been a bit different, but it was a 3-2 fight for him or 3-2 fight for me, so I haven’t left that fight thinking anything.
“He was the former champ. A few more fights, and I am going to be the champion. I want that. I see all these – when you’re doing your chats with (Daniel Cormier) and he’s calling Khabib (Nurmagomedov) the GOAT, I love seeing that because it makes me thrive to one day have my name mentioned like that. People could watch this now and be like, ‘Yeah, whatever Till,’ and people will be like, ‘Yeah, Till’s definitely going to be a GOAT,’ but it’s just what I set out to do. Step by step, I’m proving it, and I’m a high-level fighter. I’m a high-level striker in MMA.”
