Marvin Vettori urges Darren Till to make UFC return, 'The Gorilla' issues response: "Seems like everyone wants me back"
Marvin Vettori has suggested that he'd like former UFC fighter Darren Till to return to the organization and fight him. Till responded to Vettori by putting forth a precondition for a potential UFC matchup between the two.
Till, who is a one-time UFC welterweight title challenger and a former middleweight contender, recently expressed interest in a UFC return and exchanged jibes with UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis.
Moreover, Vettori and Till have now jabbed at one another on X over a photo from a past training session, with each claiming they'd gotten the better of the other. Vettori urged his former training partner to return to the promotion and fight him. 'The Italian Dream' tweeted:
"Darren Till come back we need to fight buddy"
Till repied, saying:
"Seems like everyone wants me back. If UFC bring me back you have to give me till December deal?"
Marvin Vettori appeared to agree with Darren Till and implied that their potential showdown could take place in Dec. 2024 or Jan. 2025. The Italian wrote:
"December January for me sounds good tbh I still got 7-8 weeks for my shoulder"
A look at Marvin Vettori's and Darren Till's recent runs, as well as their canceled UFC fight
Marvin Vettori's rematch against then-UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in June 2021 ended in a one-sided unanimous decision defeat. The 30-year-old is 2-2 since that matchup. 'The Italian Dream's' most recent fight was a unanimous decision defeat against Jared Cannonier in June 2023.
On the other hand, Darren Till went 1-4 in his final five octagon appearances. 'The Gorilla' is on a three-fight losing streak. He left the UFC after his third-round submission defeat to Dricus du Plessis in Dec. 2022. The 31-year-old is fresh off a second-round TKO victory over Mohammad Mutie in an exhibition boxing match in July 2024.
Intriguingly, a middleweight bout between Marvin Vettori and Darren Till was scheduled to headline the UFC on ABC card on April 10, 2021. However, Till suffered a broken collarbone. After Till confirmed his withdrawal from that matchup on March 30, 2021, he was replaced by Kevin Holland, who lost to Vettori via unanimous decision.
Presently, Vettori holds the No. 6 position in the official UFC middleweight rankings. Till was removed from the UFC's rankings when he left the promotion. Neither combatant's next fight has been officially announced yet.