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Darren Till reveals an encounter with President Donald Trump’s security that put his UFC 244 fight with Kelvin Gastelum in jeopardy.
Darren Till was candid enough to admit the nerves he experienced prior to his middleweight debut against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244. During the post-fight presser, “The Gorilla” said he was so “terrified” that he thought of faking an injury and pull out of the fight.
But apparently, the Gastelum-Till fight almost fell apart for other reasons. During his appearance on Monday’s Ariel Helwani MMA Show on ESPN, Till revealed an encounter with President Donald Trump’s security that put the fight in jeopardy.
“I didn’t have my medical yet, but they were shutting down the USADA office for the president and then they tried to kick me out of the room.” Till recalled. “They were saying that I couldn’t fight. I refused to leave the room… Kevin Lee had just left, and so did Derrick Lewis, and then I was just sat there.
“I made sure the doctor came to my room to get my medical because that was just another thing,” he added. “If anything could have went wrong [this week], it did… I was so focused on what was coming in the fight, I wasn’t paying attention.
“And then they started talking about maybe me not fighting. I didn’t even cause a fuss. I just thought, ‘Is this fight not meant to happen?’”
Till ended up with a split decision victory over Gastelum, snapping a two-fight skid. He currently holds a record of 18-2-1 (with 12 wins by stoppage).