The No. 8 ranked middleweight wants to return against another solid contender.
Darren Till has never shied away from a challenge. The No. 8 ranked UFC middleweight contender has struggled in recent appearances, but does not want to take a step back as he plots his return to the Octagon.
Till was submitted by Derek Brunson via third-round rear-naked choke at UFC Vegas 36 this past September. The loss to Brunson was his second straight and fourth in five fights between the welterweight and middleweight divisions, which sparked a discussion about what the 28-year-old should do next in light of his apparent skid. Till already has an idea and told Michael Bisping on the Believe You Me podcast on Thursday that he is interested in a fights against a few men ranked above him.
“The UFC, they said to me, ‘Darren, we’re with you. We know what your potential is, we really love you, you’re always there for us, you’ll fight anyone anytime. You’re the man of the company,’ and I said of course,” said Till. “But they were like, ‘So, who do you want to fight?’ and I said Jared Cannonier is a good one. They were like, ‘Oh really? Jared already?’ and I was like yeah, of course.
“There were a few options they threw out to me,” continued Till. “One fight I really liked was Sean Strickland. They offered me him as well, and I actually said to Sean — because I’ve seen him a few times at the UFC — I said, ‘Sean, if you want to get it on at some point, let’s do it because I think you’re a good fighter [and] I think it would be a good fight.’ So, listen. I’m still fighting the top and that’s how it is.”
Cannonier has a fight booked against Brunson for UFC 270, but Strickland is currently without an opponent. Strickland was supposed to meet Luke Rockhold earlier this month at UFC 268, but the former UFC middleweight champion withdrew after suffering a back injury that required months of physical therapy.
Strickland has not been attached to anyone since, so Till would be more than happy to meet him in the headliner of an upcoming event in March that is rumored to take place in London.
“Hopefully a good solid card there, main event, obviously,” said Till. “We’ll have all our guys on from Kaobon and all the other guys from Liverpool and all around the U.K. and in Europe, so I think that’s going to be a good card. That’s what it’s looking like, but we’ll see.”