Darren Till blasts PFL for not rebooking Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Paul Hughes: "Biggggggg Fumble!"
Ex-UFC fighter Darren Till recently shared his thoughts on the PFL's decision not to book an immediate rematch between Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov and Phil Hughes. Hughes challenged Nurmagomedov at the PFL Champions Series 1 event on Jan. 25. After a closely contested back-and-forth contest, Nurmagomedov secured a majority decision victory.
The fight has been praised as one of the best in PFL history, leading to strong demand for an immediate rematch. However, the PFL recently announced that Hughes will face Bruno Miranda at the PFL Belfast event, scheduled for May 10.
Till, clearly disappointed by the report, took to X to express his thoughts, stating:
"PFL not booking Usman Vs Paul Hughes again is a tragedy & a big BIG fumble. In my opinion! Biggggggg Fumble!"
The first fight between Usman Nurmagomedov and Hughes was marketed as a clash of Dagestan and Ireland, a theme popularized by Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor's fierce rivalry in the UFC.
Usman was expected to win the first fight with relative ease due to a strong grappling background. However, Hughes presented a tough challenge, giving the champion everything he could handle in the five-round contest. This transformed the fight into an instant classic.
Darren Till wants to return to the UFC and looks back at his performance against Dricus du Plessis
Darren Till began his MMA career with an 18-fight unbeaten run, earning recognition as one of the best British fighters in the UFC. However, he decided to take a step back and requested that the UFC remove him from the roster after experiencing a challenging run of 1-5 while dealing with lingering injuries. This was after his third-round submission defeat against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 282 in December 2022.
Since then, Till has focused on training, particularly in boxing. He made his professional boxing debut in January 2025 with a first-round TKO win over Anthony Taylor.
In a recent appearance on Michael Bisping's 'Believe You Me' podcast, Till expressed his desire to return to the UFC and shared his thoughts on the du Plessis fight, stating:
“I do still want to come back to the UFC. ... That hasn't left my mind. I’ve seen the state of the middleweight division. I think I can come back. I’m the only guy who really gave the champ any trouble on the feet. Everyone else sort of gets confused by how sh* he is, when he's beating them.
He added:
"He wasn’t a problem for me. The problem for me was a little [injury], and wasn't strong enough and and he was a strong dude. But apart from that, especially now with the way I’ve improved my boxing skills, I just don’t think Dricus could beat me.”
Check out Darren Till's comments below (1:16:30):
Although Till was heavily criticized for his performance against du Plessis, the loss has aged well. The South African went on to become the UFC middleweight champion and has defeated some of the greatest middleweights of all time, including Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker.