"I was in so much pain, agony" - Darren Till reveals extreme and dangerous weight-cutting techniques used to make weight at UFC Liverpool against Stephen Thompson
Darren Till has opened up about the extreme and dangerous weight-cutting techniques he used to cut weight for his welterweight bout against Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson at UFC Liverpool in May 2018.
Till failed to make the welterweight limit as he weighed in at 174.5 pounds, which was 3.5 pounds over the weight limit for non-title welterweight bouts. The bout proceeded at catchweight, and 'The Gorilla' ended up beating Thompson via unanimous decision.
Speaking to ESPN MMA regarding his teammate Khamzat Chimaev's recent weight debacle, Darren Till recalled his own horrifying weight cut incident leading up to the bout with 'Wonderboy'. Till suggested that he was about three pounds over the 171-pound weight limit ahead of the Thompson matchup and had just one hour to make weight.
Video chronicles Darren Till’s brutal weight cut before UFC Liverpool mmafighting.com/2018/5/31/1741… https://t.co/8kBvWAvkIJ
That said, the Liverpudlian revealed that he wasn't able to shed any more weight and was experiencing temporary blindness due to already having cut a considerable amount of weight. 'The Gorilla' highlighted that he then resorted to a treatment known as colonic irrigation, a.k.a., colon cleansing/colonic hydrotherapy. Till stated:
"I said to my coaches, 'Take me to the place where they suck air from your rectum.' It's called colonic irrigation. I said, 'This is our last hope. Let's try and lose a pound, two pounds.' I had three pounds to go or something. So, we did. We went there, and I'd done it. I was in so much pain, agony. And we did it. And it sucks water into you and sucks it out. That's how it works, colonic irrigation."
The 29-year-old claimed that since he was already severely dehydrated, his body held on to the water that entered him via the colonic irrigation treatment. Till indicated that he failed to efficiently cut down to the 171-pound weight limit and ultimately weighed in at 174.5 lbs.
Watch Till discuss the topic at 8:50 in the video below:
Darren Till could make his long-awaited return to the octagon this year
Darren Till has been out of action since September 2021 due to knee injury issues. Additionally, he's also on a two-fight losing streak.
Regardless, the striking savant recently asserted that he'd like to fight twice this year and subsequently capture the UFC middleweight title in 2023.
Earlier this month, ESPN MMA's Brett Okamoto reported that a fight between Darren Till and Dricus du Plessis has been verbally agreed upon. The middleweight matchup is being targeted for UFC 282 on December 10. Okamoto noted:
“Darren Till said he’d return before the end of a year, before a monster “comeback” in 2023. The return is in the works. Till vs. Dricus du Plessis verbally agreed for UFC 282 on Dec. 10.”