‘I relish the thought’ – Darren Till confirms stance on UFC return and working with ‘cutthroat’ Dana White
Darren Till has said he ‘relishes’ the thought of making a UFC return in the near future. Till also revealed insights to his relationship with UFC President Dana White, describing him has ‘cutthroat’. Till has 18 wins and five losses in his MMA career But is now trying his luck in the world of boxingGetty The 32-year-old announced at the beginning of 2023 that he had left the UFC after eight years with the promotion. The Liverpudlian was removed from the UFC rankings following three straight defeats to Robert Whittaker, Derek Brunson and current champion Dricus Du Plessis. Now, he’s trying his hand in the world of boxing, and takes on American Anthony Taylor at Manchester’s Co-op Live this weekend in what will be just his second appearance inside the squared circle. Although Till has admitted he would like to continue in the sport of boxing in 2025, he didn’t rule out a return to his primary sport in the years that follow. “I relish the thought of coming back to the UFC,” Till told talkSPORT.com, speaking on his combat sports future. “We’ll see, obviously. For now, it’s team Misfits, but there’s always a path. There’s always a way back. There’s always: when there’s a will there’s a way. Definitely. “I always said to them: ‘Look, if it ever comes back around, I’ll always join you if you have me.’ “As I said, they like me. So who knows, in a few years, if that vibe’s happening again, we’ll see. It’s all baby steps, isn’t it? “All the time. We’re all just trying to have a go at it.” During his career in White’s promotion, Till challenged for UFC gold, eventually losing his one and only opportunity to Tyron Woodley after racking up a four-fight win streak, which included a huge victory over Stephen Thompson in Liverpool’s Echo Arena. Till takes on Taylor in his second boxing fight this weekend under the Misfits bannerGetty “It just depends on if I’d want to go back to them as well,” Till added. “If I was at a stage in my career where I would want to go back, then obviously it comes down to if they would have me back. “I think the stars have got to align from something like that, but as I’ve said to you, in life there’s a way.” ‘The Gorilla’ was one of the promotion’s most hyped-up fighters in 2017, in similar fashion to how the UFC is currently pushing Paddy Pimblett. One man who Till worked very close with during his seven-year stint in the UFC was its President White. “I had a sort of boss and worker type of relationship,” Till said. Till headlined UFC Liverpool in 2018 as one of the promotion’s most popular fighterGetty Images - Getty But finished his UFC career with three defeats, including one to Du PlessisGetty “I always found him [White] very polite and stuff like that. He’s obviously cutthroat in business, which is what you need to be to get to his level. “I always spoke my mind. I was always very upfront with them. If I liked something, I didn’t like something. I never really had any problems. “[I’ve] spoke to them briefly since I’ve been out of the UFC. I can’t say much. “To be totally honest with you, if I didn’t have a good relationship, I probably wouldn’t be telling anyone anyway. I think stuff like that’s behind closed doors. “Some things are just better left unsaid. I’ve always got along with the UFC and Dana White. I’ve never really had no run in or problem with them. I like them.” Till is now fighting for KSI‘s Misfits Boxing promotion, and is back in action in Manchester this weekend. He was originally scheduled to make his professional boxing debut against Mexican former WBC middleweight boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson undercard. But the bout was postponed after Tyson revealed he had suffered an ulcer flare-up on a flight to Los Angeles. Till ended up making his first boxing appearance against Palestinian MMA fighter Mohammad Mutie in July last year, winning the exhibition fight in Dubai by TKO. He was then scheduled to make his Misfits debut against Tommy Fury on Saturday night, but the latter withdrew via an Instagram post that cited Till’s potential usage of ‘stupid MMA tactics’ as his reason for pulling out. Till responded at the time calling Fury ‘completely and utterly embarrassing’. Regardless of the Fury fight being cancelled, Till has one thing in his mind for now: boxing. “I’m going to focus on boxing for the time being,” he concluded. “As I said, baby steps. I want to see what happens this year. See where I get myself. “We’ll just take it each month. Month by month we’ll just take it. We’ll train. And see where it gets us.”
Darren Till has said he ‘relishes’ the thought of making a UFC return in the near future.
Till also revealed insights to his relationship with UFC President Dana White, describing him has ‘cutthroat’.
The 32-year-old announced at the beginning of 2023 that he had left the UFC after eight years with the promotion.
The Liverpudlian was removed from the UFC rankings following three straight defeats to Robert Whittaker, Derek Brunson and current champion Dricus Du Plessis.
Now, he’s trying his hand in the world of boxing, and takes on American Anthony Taylor at Manchester’s Co-op Live this weekend in what will be just his second appearance inside the squared circle.
Although Till has admitted he would like to continue in the sport of boxing in 2025, he didn’t rule out a return to his primary sport in the years that follow.
“I relish the thought of coming back to the UFC,” Till told talkSPORT.com, speaking on his combat sports future.
“We’ll see, obviously. For now, it’s team Misfits, but there’s always a path. There’s always a way back. There’s always: when there’s a will there’s a way. Definitely.
“I always said to them: ‘Look, if it ever comes back around, I’ll always join you if you have me.’
“As I said, they like me. So who knows, in a few years, if that vibe’s happening again, we’ll see. It’s all baby steps, isn’t it?
“All the time. We’re all just trying to have a go at it.”
During his career in White’s promotion, Till challenged for UFC gold, eventually losing his one and only opportunity to Tyron Woodley after racking up a four-fight win streak, which included a huge victory over Stephen Thompson in Liverpool’s Echo Arena.
“It just depends on if I’d want to go back to them as well,” Till added.
“If I was at a stage in my career where I would want to go back, then obviously it comes down to if they would have me back.
“I think the stars have got to align from something like that, but as I’ve said to you, in life there’s a way.”
‘The Gorilla’ was one of the promotion’s most hyped-up fighters in 2017, in similar fashion to how the UFC is currently pushing Paddy Pimblett.
One man who Till worked very close with during his seven-year stint in the UFC was its President White.
“I had a sort of boss and worker type of relationship,” Till said.
“I always found him [White] very polite and stuff like that. He’s obviously cutthroat in business, which is what you need to be to get to his level.
“I always spoke my mind. I was always very upfront with them. If I liked something, I didn’t like something. I never really had any problems.
“[I’ve] spoke to them briefly since I’ve been out of the UFC. I can’t say much.
“To be totally honest with you, if I didn’t have a good relationship, I probably wouldn’t be telling anyone anyway. I think stuff like that’s behind closed doors.
“Some things are just better left unsaid. I’ve always got along with the UFC and Dana White. I’ve never really had no run in or problem with them. I like them.”
Till is now fighting for KSI‘s Misfits Boxing promotion, and is back in action in Manchester this weekend.
He was originally scheduled to make his professional boxing debut against Mexican former WBC middleweight boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson undercard.
But the bout was postponed after Tyson revealed he had suffered an ulcer flare-up on a flight to Los Angeles.
Till ended up making his first boxing appearance against Palestinian MMA fighter Mohammad Mutie in July last year, winning the exhibition fight in Dubai by TKO.
He was then scheduled to make his Misfits debut against Tommy Fury on Saturday night, but the latter withdrew via an Instagram post that cited Till’s potential usage of ‘stupid MMA tactics’ as his reason for pulling out.
Till responded at the time calling Fury ‘completely and utterly embarrassing’.
Regardless of the Fury fight being cancelled, Till has one thing in his mind for now: boxing.
“I’m going to focus on boxing for the time being,” he concluded.
“As I said, baby steps. I want to see what happens this year. See where I get myself.
“We’ll just take it each month. Month by month we’ll just take it. We’ll train. And see where it gets us.”
