Darren Till shared a major update about his highly-anticipated return to the octagon.
Top-ranked UFC middleweight contender Till has been on the sidelines since his last outing against Derek Brunson in Sep. 2021. Brunson cruised his way to a dominant finish, submitting “The Gorilla” with a rear-naked choke in the third round to mark Till’s second defeat in a row.
Darren Till wants to fight two times before the year-end
Till had reported that he went into the bout against Brunson with a torn ACL and would be taking some time off. He was scheduled to make his return to competition against Jack Hermansson last month at UFC London. However, another undisclosed injury would force him to pull out of the contest.
In an interview with ESPN, Darren Till shared that he was back in training after the injury and talked about his plans to make a comeback by the end of the year. As of now, Till is helping prepare Khamzat Chimaev for his upcoming headlining fight with Nate Diaz and believes he’s benefitting as well.
“We’re a few weeks into getting back,” Till said (ht BJPenn.com). “Khamzat [Chimaev] is fully in camp now for this fight with Nate Diaz, so I’m like in camp helping him, but I’m in camp for myself to come back. As I said to you previously, I’m coming back. The body’s never 100 percent, but I’m coming back what I used to be like, healthy and fit and ready to get a world title, get some wins in.”
Till expressed his ambition to have two fights before the new year.
” [Getting a] massive fight against one of the best strikers in the division, so this is all just about getting back now… Yeah, I’d say in a few months’ time, I’ll be ready. I want to have two fights by the end of this year. Two fights, and then next year’s a big year. The comeback is on.”
Once touted to be the next British champion, Till hit a skid in his professional career that saw him drop four out of his last five outings, with a sole win coming over Kelvin Gastelum by split decision in a razor-thin match.
Are you excited about the return of Darren Till?