Midnight Mania! Darren Till bigger, better version of McGregor, still lives in his uncle’s spare bedroom

Bringing the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

In 2017, Darren Till went from a relatively anonymous youngster in the most crowded division in the UFC, to a standout contender in less than a round. That’s how long it took him to demolish Donald Cerrone, handing “Cowboy” the first three-fight skid of his career. In his previous fight, Cerrone had narrowly lost by split decision to Robbie Lawler. Till picked him apart with efficiency and elegance, crowding Cerrone against the cage and unleashing clinical one-twos until Cerrone crumbled.

“All the welterweights were jealous of that and calling me Dana’s new cash cow,” Till told MMAJunkie. “If Dana’s put a target on my back, I want that. I want people to want to come and fight me so I can beat everyone on my way to the title.

“They can say what they want because if they want to come and fight me, then come and fight me. But they’re going to have a hard night because I am hard (expletive).”

Till doesn’t want to be resting on his laurels, nor does he want to take the easy road to the title. When he talks about being a light heavyweight, he’s being completely serious; that’s the division he wants to end up in after rolling through welterweight and middleweight.

“In all honesty, I am too big for the division,” he said. “You could see with Cerrone, and I know he’s a former lightweight, but I am huge at this weight. I’m going to spend some time taking over at welterweight, but then I will move up.

“People think I’m joking, but I’m also planning on going up to light heavyweight because I still have years to go and I’m going to continue to grow. I want to be a three-weight world champion.”

A former Muay Thai champion in Brazil, Till’s pressure and style have drawn obvious comparisons to Conor McGregor, and Till not only agrees, but embraces the comparison. He thinks his long fighting style and accuracy makes him a nightmare matchup for another top contender, Rafael Dos Anjos.

“A pay-per-view against dos Anjos in Brazil would be huge, and I am totally up for it,” Till said.

“The great thing is, I would go there and beat him in a round because he’s designed for me and is just too scrappy on the feet. I think Conor McGregor would have absolutely annihilated him, and I’m twice Conor’s size. I’m also a similar fighter to Conor – just much better. I would kill dos Anjos, and I just don’t know what he’s doing in this division.”

He has thoughts on Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson too:

“I don’t feel like I’ve earned a title shot and, to be totally honest, I don’t even feel like I’ve earned a top-three spot,” the Liverpudlian said. “The only reason why I asked for ‘Wonderboy’ is because I think it would decipher who the best striker is (in welterweight division). But I don’t really care if it’s No. 1 or No. 10.

“He’s an excellent fighter, one of the best, and I don’t want to fight him for an easy route to the title, but because I want to test myself against the best. If he’s the guy to beat me and take all my momentum, then fair play to him. But I don’t believe he could do it.”

Till has clearly remained grounded since his breakout win; in fact, he still lives in his uncle’s spare bedroom. He’s even taking the bus to get around, since his car is in the shop. Unlike McGregor, Till doesn’t care about flashing his wealth on social media. He’s just here to work hard and talk shit.

“As long as I can eat and buy a pair of trainers (shoes), I’m happy,” Till said. “I’m a very content and happy man. I don’t care about the Mercs and Lamborghinis. You can leave that for the show ponies, who post all that on Instagram. I just want to work hard and talk (expletive).”

---

Insomnia

Matt Brown and Chuck Liddell

Someone memed Dominick Cruz and he thought it was hilarious

Of course I want to see this.

Whatever works, I guess.

Anthony Johnson trains defense with a tennis ball.

Boxing training is some of my favorite to watch, clearly.

Speaking of boxing, I would also watch these two fight half a dozen times and not get tired of it.

Sir Robert Knuckles Whittaker, New Zealand’s first UFC champion.

Mike Tyson sent Khabib Nurmagomedov some gear

Khabib is a funny guy. He’s a threat to all the tiramisu out there, as well as the lightweight division.

Or welterweights, if Tyron Woodley’s thinking is correct.

In case you want creepy dreams tonight:

Michael Bisping hitting pads. Will his next fight be his last?

I want the iron neck wrestling snake charm.

---

Slips, Rips, and Double-Leg Clips

Douglas Lima is a dangerous fighter

Doo Ho Choi has been in amazing fights for a long time now.

That entry is so silky smooth from Jordan Burroughs

---

Good Reads

• Stipe Miocic’s mom has never seen him fight. Thanks to his new partnership with Modelo, the new beer sponsor of the UFC, she got to see his whole walkout routine. Stipe’s partnership with Modelo is a pretty cool story, because the UFC have been unable to find a way to market the firefighter who kicked off Ohio’s championship streak in sports.
• Someone broke into Jessica Rose-Clark’s home, trashed it, and caved her cat’s ribs in. That’s not a good read, it’s a sad one, and whoever did it deserves to have a professional ass-beating.

---

Podcasts and Video

The MMA Ratings Podcast

Bushido Talk

Stay woke, Maniacs! Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @Vorpality