Darren Till shares detailed fighting advice to help Israel Adesanya regain 185-pound title at UFC 305: “Lots of feints, he reacts to them”
Darren Till shared his experiences to help Israel Adesanya become the first-ever three-time UFC middleweight champion. Adesanya took an extended break from competition after losing the title to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 last September. He will return to competition against newly crowned champ Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305 this weekend.
Till fought Du Plessis in his final UFC appearance, losing the back-and-forth battle via third-round submission. The Liverpool native recently took to X and sent some advice to Adesanya to help him re-capture the title:
"Got some advice for Izzy on how to fight DDP on Saturday. Lots of feints… He reacts to them so much and throws from the hills. Then you can step back. Have a look and either for the punch combo or knee, maybe a kick. You're a high-level striker so you know what [I] am on about. Everyone here won’t have a clue but they will try to understand it. Only the elite strikers get it."
Till continued:
"As he rushes in, do what you did against Rob [Whittaker] and I did the same. Yours knocked Rob out, whereas mine didn’t. But still, same-same. DDP will rush in. Instead of standing back or going back like most of these silly stupid strikers do. Stand your ground and just hit him again either with the punch combo or even a knee up the middle. I personally love the elbow as they are lunging in but it’s whatever suits you at that time and whatever you have practiced. Hope this advice goes well with you IZZY."
Darren Till was the only middleweight contender Israel Adesanya wanted to fight at one point
Israel Adesanya had firmly established himself as the dominant middleweight champion by the end of 2020. He had defeated former titleholder Robert Whittaker and other top contenders like Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, and Marvin Vettori. "The Last Stylebender" was not intrigued by the rematches available to him at the time and was looking for a fresh challenger.
Till, who had moved up to middleweight after back-to-back losses in the welterweight division, was one of the most popular rising stars at the time. While speaking to Ariel Helwani heading into the Jan Blachowicz fight in March 2021, Adesanya said:
"To be honest, none of them excite me except Till. I hope he keeps winning just so we can have that fight. He's just got to win, man. He's got to get his sh** together and keep winning. Till, come on, Scouser!"