Charles Oliveira’s victory at UFC 262 will undoubtedly serve as inspiration for many fighters, and Darren Till is no different.
Oliveira claimed the UFC lightweight championship with a second round stoppage of Michael Chandler on Saturday. The victory came after a 27 fight run spanning over 11 years in the organization. It was the longest stretch any fighter had gone before winning a title.
Till saw Oliveira’s performance over the weekend and is using it as inspiration. Sitting down with Michael Bisping on his Believe You Me podcast, Till said Oliveira’s victory has reaffirmed his belief that he too can one day be champion (H/T MMA Fighting).
“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 said. “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 knows a thing or two about facing adversity in the past few years. After starting his career 17-0-1, Till earned a welterweight title shot against then-champion Tyron Woodley. He was handed his first career loss with a second round stoppage, and suffered the same fate in his subsequent fight against Jorge Masvidal. The losses prompted a move up to the middleweight division, where he debuted with a win over Kelvin Gastelum. Any momentum he had hoped to build off that victory was halted when he was then dominated by former champion Robert Whittaker over five rounds, dropping him to 1-3 during his current run.
‘The Gorilla’ had hoped to right the ship against Marvin Vettori, but was forced out of the fight with a broken collarbone. Further adding insult to injury, Vettori’s performance over late replacement Kevin Holland would earn him a shot at middleweight king Israel Adesanya. However, Till isn’t letting the missed opportunity get the best of him, as he knows that, like Oliveira, his day too will one day come.
“Let Marvin have his shot. Congrats on getting it and all that,” Till said.
“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.’ 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’s climb back to title contention starts in August when he faces off against Derek Brunson in a main event bout. Brunson is riding high on the back of a 4-fight win streak, and has historically only tasted defeat when going against the truly elite. If Till can find a way past the perennial contender, he might just find himself back at the top of the division with a chance at middleweight gold in his sights.
Do you think Darren Till will have his own Charles Oliveira-like run to UFC gold? Let us know!