One-time UFC welterweight title challenger, Darren Till has claimed he would have defeated former middleweight title chaser, Marvin Vettori in the first round via knockout last year – before a fractured collarbone forced the Liverpool native’s withdrawal.
Till, the current #9 ranked middleweight contender, most recently headlined UFC Vegas 36 back in September of last year, suffering his second consecutive loss at the middleweight limit as he dropped a third round rear-naked choke defeat to Derek Brunson.
Prior to that loss, the Team Kaobon mainstay had suffered another high-profile main event loss – this time back in July 2020 on ‘Fight Island’, suffering a decision loss against former division champion, Robert Whittaker.
However, initially scheduled to headline against Jack Hermansson following his loss to Whittaker, a knee injury suffered in his Abu Dhabi, UAE outing forced his withdrawal.
In April of last year, Till was also pencilled to fight Vettori atop a UFC on ABC 2 card, however, a fractured collarbone suffered ahead of the main event bout forced him to cancel that matchup to book.
Most recently, Till, who was slated to co-headline UFC London next weekend, was also shelved from the capital event as well as a rescheduling with Hermansson amid another persistent knee injury.
Darren Till claims he would have landed a first round KO over Marvin Vettori
Commenting on his focus and frame of mind leading up to last year’s booked main event against Vettori, Till maintains that he would have coasted past the Italian with a first round knockout success.
“It was the best I’ve ever been,” Darren Till told Blockassett during a recent interview. “I actually knew inside and I was going into that fight with Marvin (Vettori) – I’m not disrespecting Marvin, listen, he’s higher up than me now. He’s a f*cking totally different path. You know, he’ll probably see this and say some angry sh*t like he usually does, ‘cause he’s got no brains, but I would of went in that fight and stopped him, 100 per cent in the first round.”
“He’s just a mong who comes forward, he just wouldn’t have been able to take my shots,” Darren Till continued. “Like don’t get me wrong, he’s a cardio machine, he is a monster – and I do respect him as a fighter, but there’s just no way to cope with me at that point where I was. I was so f*cking fit, there was nothing to do, it was just chewing back the gym, me diet was on point. And then it’s like, two weeks before I broke me collarbone. …”
Whilst a timeline for Till’s Octagon return is currently unknown, following a failed UFC 275 matchup with the aforenoted, Whittaker in Singapore, Trento native, Vettori is scheduled to co-headline a UFC Fight Night Paris event against the former champion in September.