What happened to Darren Till? Analyzing the Englishman’s fall from grace
Earlier this year, Darren Till surprised the MMA world by requesting and being granted his release from the UFC after nearly a decade with the promotion.
Once a confident contender who envisioned himself as a future champion, he now departs with a less favorable record, having suffered five losses in his last six fights. The specific reason behind his release remains undisclosed, as he seems to be interested in pursuing other ventures that he has yet to reveal.
According to UFC president Dana White, it was all due to Darren Till himself realizing that he could no longer compete at the highest level. But how exactly does an unbeaten title challenger, who many touted as the next big thing, leave the sport with his potential completely unfulfilled? What happened to Darren Till?
Darren Till, the high-potential prospect
From 2015 onwards, rangy southpaw strikers with a dynamite left hand, a penchant for trash-talking and an accent from either England or Ireland was all the rage in MMA. This was all due to Conor McGregor's meteoric rise to superstardom, and it placed a spotlight on fighters like Darren Till.
'The Gorilla' made his UFC debut in mid-2015, several months before Conor McGregor shocked the world with a 13-second knockout against José Aldo. Darren Till came into the promotion with an undefeated 12-0 record, with 10 of his wins coming by way of either knockout or submission.
Not only did he have the mystique of an unbeaten fighter, but also the spark of a finisher. And in his promotional debut, he sparked his opponent with a second-round knockout. Unfortunately, his sophomore UFC fight had nearly stained his spotless record with a draw.
May30.2015
6 years ago today,
Darren Till made his UFC debut & finished Wendell de Oliveira with a series of elbows. pic.twitter.com/v0H6wJjXKa
While Till's performance left a lot to be desired, few knew of the underlying issues that had contributed to it. Issues in his personal life reared their ugly head, and a severe shoulder injury came to light, both forcing him to take a two-year sabbatical from the sport.
Upon his return, Conor McGregor had embarked on a two-year hiatus of his own, leaving the promotion starved for anyone and anything reminiscent of their greatest PPV attraction. So Darren Till stepped up to the plate, and he looked like everything that the UFC could have wanted.
His wide stance drew comparisons to 'The Notorious,' as did his lightning-quick straight-left that always seemed to find his foe's chin like a guided missile. He embarked on a two-fight win streak, and earned a matchup against future UFC Hall of Famer Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone.
Up to that point, 'Cowboy' Cerrone posed the highest-level challenge for Darren Till. However, it's worth noting that Cerrone had a well-known aversion to forward pressure, was smaller than Till, and had been on a two-fight losing streak. In essence, Cerrone served as a decent litmus test for Till's skills, carried a notable name to draw attention, and was considered a beatable opponent.
5 years ago today, Darren Till finished Donald Cerrone in his first UFC main event
pic.twitter.com/fBEj8nEbWd
So when the two men crossed swords, the outcome wasn't in doubt. Darren Till sniped him with his trademark left hand, nearly dropping him as 'Cowboy' stumbled backwards before eating a step-in left elbow that backed him into the fence. Rocked and helpless, Cerrone melted as Till unleashed a furious combination.
Within seconds, Cerrone collapsed and turtled up on the ground. The referee had seen enough and wave the fight off to award Darren Till a first-round TKO and the biggest win of his career up until that point. The spoils of his conquest, however, took the form of an even more difficult matchup: Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson.
Thompson was a dangerous foe. Not only was he one of the greatest strikers to ever set foot inside the octagon, he was a former welterweight title challenger. And he was also among the few fighters who matched Till's size and speed. The matchup between the two men was a title eliminator.
UFC Fight Night 130 was headlined by 'The Gorilla' and 'Wonderboy' in Liverpool, Darren Till's first time fighting in front of fellow scousers. Unfortunately, the bout was not an action-packed thriller. Till was a low-volume pressure fighter, who patiently looked for openings, while Thompson was a classic counterpuncher.
The knockdown that won him the fight? 👊
Darren Till came so close to becoming the first man to knock Wonderboy out 😤
#UFCLiverpool | 9:30pm | BT Sport 3 HD pic.twitter.com/kqQhLR4wGw
Thus, their fight was a chess match. It was a closely-contested affair, with Till just barely edging his foe out with more strikes landed and a knockdown to seal the win. Still, the reception he received from his hometown faithful was legendary, as was his post-fight interview.
Now, it was time for a title fight.
From welterweight title contention to middleweight failures
UFC 228 marked the biggest fight of Darren Till's career. It was the culmination of his life's work. After mounting a four-fight win streak since his return, 'The Gorilla' preemptively crowned himself a future champion. It was destiny, he said, and the then reigning welterweight titleholder Tyron Woodley was simply a roadblock.
His walkout for the PPV main event was a star-making one, and everything seemed to be in his favor, from the promotion to the fans. Unfortunately, when the lights shone brightest, Darren Till froze. He landed just one strike in the entire fight, before being dropped by 'The Chosen One.'
Dazed on the mat, he was helpless as Woodley blasted him with ground-and-pound before sinking in a D'arce choke. Till had just tasted defeat for the first time, and had to not only watch Dana White wrap the welterweight strap around his foe's waist, but also witness Woodley receive his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.
Remember when Tyron Woodley got his black belt for submitting Darren Till pic.twitter.com/58sqgYLYpX
After everything, he was just a milestone in another man's journey as a grappler. But he was still young and brimming with potential. So the UFC tried to do him a favor. The following year, he was given yet another headliner on English soil. This time, his opponent was Jorge Masvidal.
At the time, 'Gamebred' was a man of no renown. He was widely regarded as a career journeyman. More than that, he was a former lightweight making his return after two years away from the sport, and on a losing streak, no less. Surely, Darren Till could rebound and regain his confidence with a win over him.
That, however, was not the case. Despite dropping Masvidal in the first round, 'The Gorilla,' who was once unbeaten, suffered a second consecutive loss, knocked out cold in front of his fans. Little did anyone know at the time, that it was the start of one of the most legendary three-fight runs a UFC fighter's ever had.
4 years ago today, Jorge Masvidal slept Darren Till in London
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It just wasn't meant to be Darren Till's. Heartbroken, 'The Gorilla' announced his move to middleweight, where he faced former welterweight Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244 months later. Ironically, the card was headlined by the man who had last beaten him, Jorge Masvidal.
While Darren Till made a new start to life at middleweight, Jorge Masvidal reached his peak as the 'BMF' champion. The Englishman's bout with Kelvin Gastelum was a win, albeit unremarkable as 'The Gorilla' used a clinch-heavy strategy to smother his foe's power-punchers while throwing the odd elbow and little else.
Still, he had managed to snap his two-fight losing streak. But his next test at 185 pounds came against one of the division's former champions: Robert Whittaker. 'The Gorilla' lost, but gave a good account of himself, remaining competitive throughout the fight.
Unfortunately, this is when he began declining. He was scheduled to face Jack Hermansson, but an injury forced him to withdraw from the bout. After nursing himself back to health, a year later, he was booked to fight Marvin Vettori, with whom he'd traded barbs on social media.
Darren till barely in shape 4 weeks out of his fight. Noted… pic.twitter.com/gpcrmAm1U7
But, he was again bitten by the injury bug, and withdrew from the bout due to a broken collarbone. Finally, after more than a year away from the octagon, Darren Till made his return against perennial top-10 middleweight Derek Brunson. Fans, however, were shocked at the sight of the Englishman's conditioning.
He wasn't as well-muscled as he once was, and carried far more body fat than he used to. And barring some flashes of skill, he was thoroughly beaten by Brunson, who submitted him with a rear-naked choke. It was a disheartening loss, and Till took yet another long break.
In the aftermath, he was contacted by unbeaten phenom Khamzat Chimaev. The two became fast friends and training partners, with Darren Till hoping to improve his wrestling and grappling. A rescheduled bout with Jack Hermansson the following year would be the perfect test.
But again, Till withdrew from his fight after sustaining another injury. By now, his reputation as an injury-prone fighter was well established, and training footage of him looking out of shape didn't instill any confidence in his fans. He eventually made his return at the end of 2022, locking horns with Dricus du Plessis.
Try as he might, 'The Gorilla' was not the same man that he once was. His physique had declined, his skills had stagnated, and his injury woes became rampant. He lost to the South African, tapping out to a face crank, which while painful, is a submission that rarely draws taps.
Suddenly, he was 1-5 in his last six fights, and like Kevin Lee, he was a future champion no more. The world knew it, and according to Dana White, even Darren Till himself knew it, prompting him to walk away from the UFC, having never realized his championship dreams.