'It's good to be called out by the champion' - Darren Till explains how a fight against Israel Adesanya would play out
UFC middleweight Darren Till has responded to Israel Adesanya's recent claim of hoping for a fight against The Gorilla. The Liverpudlian said that a fight between him and Adesanya would decide who's got the 'kryptonite' to beat the other guy's striking.
In an interview with ESPN's Ariel Helwani, Darren Till mentioned that a fight against The Last Stylebender could be the battle of two magicians fighting each other to decide whose got the better striking.
While Till remains confident in his own striking game, he wasn't shy of claiming that the reigning UFC middleweight champion is the better striker at the moment.
"Right now, I'm just focused on myself. I'm doing my own thing but this is the thing, I think it's one of these fights with me and Izzy, I think it's magician vs. magician. Who's got like the kryptonite to beat the other guy's striking? You know, I've said it for the longest time, I'm one of the best strikers in the UFC. You know and I think Izzy is definitely there like he could be ahead, you know the way's he's been fighting, he's ahead of me right now."
Darren Till's current focus is to get past Marvin Vettori in his upcoming fight. However, the former feels that he has the right tools to beat the reigning UFC middleweight champion. Till also feels that Adesanya himself is confident about having the right specifics to beat him.
Till added that being called out by the division's champion is certainly a good feeling, as it is usually the other way around when the challengers call out the champions.
"But I just feel like I've got them specifics to beat him and I'm sure he's up for the challenge and he thinks he's got the specifics to beat me. So I think it's going to be a good fight when it happens. It's good to be called out by the champion like usually, it's the challengers calling out the champion, you know the champion's calling me out. I must be doing something right."
Darren Till and Marvin Vettori will meet inside the Octagon in April
Darren Till is scheduled to make his return to the Octagon on 10th April. For his return, The Gorilla will be welcomed back by a very dangerous Marvin Vettori, who is on the back of a win over Jack Hermansson.
Darren Till himself is on the back of his first loss at middleweight to Robert Whittaker. He will be hoping to get back to winning ways and eventually get himself a shot at the title.