Till reflects on Woodley loss, says he won’t ‘fail again’ against Whittaker

Photo by Luke Walker/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC

Darren Till is determined to become the UFC middleweight champion.

Darren Till was hyped as the next big thing at welterweight, but ‘The Gorilla’ came up short when he fought Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title in 2018, losing via second-round submission in the UFC 228 main event.

To derail the hype train further, Till suffered a devastating knockout loss to Jorge Masvidal in his rebound fight at UFC Fight Night London, and many fans began to lose hope in the Liverpudlian.

Till soon put those doubts to rest when he returned to the Octagon against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244, edging out a split decision win over the former interim title challenger in his middleweight debut.

Having successfully reinvented himself as a middleweight, Till now finds himself pitted against ex-middleweight champ Robert Whittaker at UFC Fight Night 174 — and the Brit has promised not to fail again.

“One day before my failed world title attempt in 2018, I will not fail again,” Till posted on Instagram on Saturday.

A win over Whittaker won’t see Till crowned middleweight champion but it will set him up for a title shot against divisional king Israel Adesanya, who disposed of ‘The Reaper’ via second-round KO to capture the middleweight belt at UFC 243.

UFC Fight Night 174, which will likely feature Till vs. Whittaker as the main event, is scheduled to take place on July 25 at UFC Fight Island on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.