Darren Till leaves Las Vegas and UFC 282 on a three fight losing skid and a 1-5 record over his last six fights. It’s not how “The Gorilla” wanted the weekend to go. After over a year away from active competition due to injuries, Till was hoping to get back in the win column against Dricus du Plessis … and he came very, very close (watch the highlights here).
Till and du Plessis hammered each other for two and a half tough rounds, with both men nearly securing TKO stoppages against each other. It was a massive slam halfway through round three followed by a face crank from du Plessis that ended the fight, and with it Till’s hopes of a redemptive win in 2022.
A bruised up Till recorded an Instagram video following the event where he delved into his thoughts on what was next.
“You don’t always get what you want in this life,” he said with a sigh. “It’s tough. I’m f—ing 29 now. I’ve been at the top of the sport since 2017, I entered in the UFC in 2015. I’m doing this video because I feel like I should do it now, the right time is now. I’m not retiring, this is not a retirement speech. I’m 29, that would be stupid to decide.”
“But, you know, I’m on a bit of a losing skid at the moment, I really am,” he continued. “I’m not finding my right way at the moment, and it’s crazy because when I’m in the gym sparring with the best guys in the world, I really am in my element, and then I step in the octagon and I just can seem to put things together. Then I have moments like the second round when I’m untouchable, and then certain things happen.”
“I just want to say whether you love me or hate me, I’m sorry,” Till declared. “I tried to put a show on, I never cut no corners. I do really train, maybe I train too much. I train like a f—ing man demented. The past 18 weeks I’ve given me all, and I’ve always given me all to this sport. So now, I don’t know what to do properly, but I think I’m going to have a little time off from the UFC, I don’t know, and just rethink stuff.”
“I’m not retired, I want to fight, I want to fight soon next year, but now I just want to spend Christmas with my family, have a good time with my friends, and everybody who supports me properly, my team back home.”
“I hope you enjoyed the fight and all, it was a bit of a war,” he finished. “Well done to Dricus. I felt like I had him there, I was making him switch and he was very scared to stand and strike, that’s why he was shooting for them takedowns.”
While Darren Till may be feeling pretty dreary about his fighting future, UFC president Dana White gave him some props during the UFC 282 post-fight press conference.
“That’s Fight of the Night,” White said. “I don’t think his stock drops at all. If he would have went out there and gotten destroyed in the first round like it looked like was gonna happen? But then he did the exact opposite. He weathered the storm, stayed out of submissions, and then he comes back and you think he’s gonna win the fight.”
“I thought it was an awesome fight, that’s why it was Fight of the Night and I don’t think his stock dropped at all.”
