“I know for a fact in my life I will be a UFC champion. There just ain’t no two ways about it.”
If Charles Oliveira can rewrite the script of his UFC career and become champion, so too, can Darren Till.
Oliveira wowed fans this past weekend when he TKO’d Michael Chandler in the UFC 262 main event to capture the vacant lightweight title, and Till has nothing but respect for what the Brazilian has accomplished after being doubted almost his entire UFC career.
“I take inspiration from a lot of things and you see Charles Oliveira, he just became the lightweight champion after, what, 10 years, 11 years?” Till told Michael Bisping on a recent episode of Believe You Me (h/t MMA Fighting). How many losses? How many wins? How many setbacks? How much being looked over? So that for me is a big factor, knowing that I’m 28, I haven’t been in MMA that long, only a few years and I feel like I’m at me prime in the next year or two.”
Till went on to state that he has sacrificed too much in his life not to become middleweight champion and that, unlike many other UFC fighters, is not content with ‘just being in the UFC’ and settling for top-three status.
“I’ve sacrificed too much f***ing s*** in my life to get to this point in my life and be like, ‘Yeah man, I’m happy I was a top three UFC fighter,’” he said. “A lot of people get to the UFC and they feel like they’ve achieved, ‘Oh, I’m in the UFC.’ I ain’t happy with just being in the UFC… I’ve sacrificed too much f***ing s***. I’ve never had another job. I’ve never done any other s*** in me life. I’ve gone through hell and I’ve got to this point. I’m not prepared in any way, shape, or form to take any steps back. In fact, everyday I feel like I’m more violent to get what I want. In retrospect, I’m not gonna let no one or nothing stop me. I know for a fact in my life I will be a UFC champion. There just ain’t no two ways about it.”
Till is 1-3 in his last four fights and will return to the Octagon to take on top-five middleweight Derek Brunson at UFC Fight Night 194 on Aug. 14. The event is expected to take place at the UFC Apex Center in Las Vegas, although nothing has been confirmed.