In the latest installment of the UFC series “On the Fly,” we go behind the scenes as the fighters prepare for action in Poland. UFC Fight Night 118 takes place Saturday and airs live on UFC Fight Pass. In the main event, Donald Cerrone meets Darren Till. MMANews.com will have coverage of the action for […]
In the latest installment of the UFC series “On the Fly,” we go behind the scenes as the fighters prepare for action in Poland. UFC Fight Night 118 takes place Saturday and airs live on UFC Fight Pass. In the main event, Donald Cerrone meets Darren Till. MMANews.com will have coverage of the action for […]
As opposed to Donald Cerrone, who’s fought 25 times in the UFC and 42 times overall, Darren Till has only competed in the Octagon four times and has only 16 fights overall. And yet the 24-year-old Englishman appears to be nothing short of confident heading into his UFC Fight Night 118 main event bout against […]
As opposed to Donald Cerrone, who’s fought 25 times in the UFC and 42 times overall, Darren Till has only competed in the Octagon four times and has only 16 fights overall.
And yet the 24-year-old Englishman appears to be nothing short of confident heading into his UFC Fight Night 118 main event bout against “Cowboy”.
“Fighting isn’t about age or experience; it’s about intelligence,” Till recently said (Via Sherdog.com). “I know I’m the most intelligent fighter out there. I don’t think he’s half the fighter I am, I really don’t.”
At age 34, Cerrone has lost two straight bouts, and while he may be nearing the tail end of his career, he remains one of the most dangerous and skillful fighters in the welterweight division. Till acknowledges the fact that he respects Cerrone, but he also made it clear that that respect will be put aside on fight night:
“I’m still a fan of Cowboy. He’s everything you want from a fighter, that’s never going to change,” Till said. “I look up to him and I respect him but, come fight night, I have to put all that to one side and I’ll have to put my fist in his face. It’ll be no different to any other opponent.”
Possessing a 3-0-1 UFC record, Till has proven that he can compete in the world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion, but there’s no question that Cerrone will represent the toughest test of his career. With that being said, however, Till plans to ‘mentally break’ the former lightweight title challenger:
“On Saturday, Cowboy will see a level that he has never ever seen in his career before,” he said.
“I’ve been training for 14 years for this. I’ve sacrificed so much, so on Saturday, it’s do or die. Saturday I go in there and make a big statement.”
“The first round, I’m going to mentally break him, I know I am, and he’s going to start questioning himself more as the fight goes on,” Till said.
What do you make of Till’s confidence heading into his bout with Cerrone?
UFC Fight Night 118 is set to take place on Saturday, October 21, 2017 at Ergo Arena in Gdańsk, Poland. This event will be the first that the UFC has hosted in Gdańsk and the second in Poland, after UFC Fight Night: Gonzaga vs. Cro Cop 2 in August 2015. The main card will air […]
UFC Fight Night 118 is set to take place on Saturday, October 21, 2017 at Ergo Arena in Gda?sk, Poland. This event will be the first that the UFC has hosted in Gda?sk and the second in Poland, after UFC Fight Night: Gonzaga vs. Cro Cop 2 in August 2015. The main card will air on the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, at 3 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will also air on UFC Fight Pass, at 11:45 a.m. ET.
A welterweight bout between former UFC Lightweight Championship challenger Donald Cerrone and Darren Till will headline this event while Jodie Esquibel vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz in a women’s strawweight bout will serve as the co-main event. Rounding out the four bout main card is Jan Blachowicz vs. Devin Clark in a light heavyweight bout and Oskar Piechota vs. Jonathan Wilson in a middleweight bout.
UFC officials held the weigh-ins for UFC Fight Night 118 on Friday. Sam Alvey was the only fighter to miss weight as he weighed in at 189 pounds. Here are the weigh-in results:
Donald Cerrone (170) vs. Darren Till (170)
Jodie Esquibel (114) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (115)
Darren Till is just 24 years old, but the UFC welterweight will headline a card against one of the more well-known fighters on the roster this Saturday. Till takes on Donald Cerrone at UFC Fight Night 118 from Poland. The card airs live on UFC Fight Pass. With a record of 15-0-1, including nine knockouts […]
Darren Till is just 24 years old, but the UFC welterweight will headline a card against one of the more well-known fighters on the roster this Saturday. Till takes on Donald Cerrone at UFC Fight Night 118 from Poland. The card airs live on UFC Fight Pass. With a record of 15-0-1, including nine knockouts […]
Donald Cerrone hasn’t fought outside of North America since heading to Japan in 2007 for a bout at Greatest Common Multiple: Cage Force 3. That was his seventh pro fight. Saturday, “Cowboy” will step inside the Octagon and make his 42nd overall fight when he faces Darren Till at UFC Fight Night 118 from Poland. […]
Donald Cerrone hasn’t fought outside of North America since heading to Japan in 2007 for a bout at Greatest Common Multiple: Cage Force 3. That was his seventh pro fight. Saturday, “Cowboy” will step inside the Octagon and make his 42nd overall fight when he faces Darren Till at UFC Fight Night 118 from Poland. […]
As the No. 6-ranked welterweight in the stacked UFC 170-pound waters, longtime top contender Donald Cerrone has seen the criticism of his match-up versus unranked Darren Till in the main event of this weekend’s (Sat., October 21, 2017) UFC Fight Night 118 from the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland. Looking to rebound from two losses to […]
As the No. 6-ranked welterweight in the stacked UFC 170-pound waters, longtime top contender Donald Cerrone has seen the criticism of his match-up versus unranked Darren Till in the main event of this weekend’s (Sat., October 21, 2017) UFC Fight Night 118 from the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland.
Looking to rebound from two losses to Robbie Lawler and Jorge Masvidal, he knows that facing a relatively unknown name in Till is a huge risk for him and a massive opportunity for the 24-year-old Brit, turning the bout into a sort of lose-lose proposition.
But ‘Cowboy’ recently described the real situation to MMA Junkie, noting that the MMA audience was gullible to believe fighters when they claim they’ll fight anyone anywhere, with many actually picking and choosing their bouts much more carefully than publicly flaunted. Wanting to get back in the Octagon as always, he said fighters turning down fights is a major trigger for him:
“The MMA audience is so stupid,” Cerrone said. “They just think because a guy says, ‘I’ll fight anybody,’ that means they’ll do it. No, that’s not true. They said they’ll fight anybody in public, and then when they get the call and their manager sits down with them and they’re like, ‘They offered us ‘Cowboy’ and their manager says, ‘Stylistically I don’t know if that’s a good matchup for you right now, you’re coming off a loss’ and blah, blah blah.
“Then they say they didn’t turn it down, but their management turned it down and it’s not them doing it, ‘I didn’t turn it down.’ To me that drives me (expletive) through the wall.”
No details came of whom may have turned down a fight with him in Poland, so ‘Cowboy’ gave his respect to Till for fighting a ‘legend’ with only a few UFC bouts to his name. He saw the young version of himself in Till, because neither will turn down a fight.
That said, he acknowledged how big of an opportunity this was for ‘The Gorilla,’ while simultaneously admitting it didn’t make all that much sense for him career-wise:
“For Darren to say, ‘You know what, I’ve only had a couple fights, I’ll fight a (expletive) legend, let’s go.’ Dude, right on, bro,” Cerrone said. “I was that son-of-a-(expletive) kid. I remember taking those fights. My hat’s off to the kid. The steam’s running on him. Good opportunity for him. But people say no all the time. It’s (expletive) asinine to me.
“Career-wise, is this a smart fight moving forward in my direction in the rankings? Probably not. This does me nothing. It does something for Darren if he wins. He could do some serious leap-frogging, but for me, nothing. Why be the guy that says I’ll fight anyone, anywhere, anytime – oh, except for him? If I say that I have to live by it.”
Indeed Cerrone has been criticized for perhaps even fighting too much and not allowing his body to rest in between bouts, but for better or worse, it’s who he is and the reason why he’s a fan favorite.
He’s also a true throwback to an era of fighters who would fight anyone, anywhere, and it’s possible there’s never been a fighter more willing to step up on short notice in MMA history. Whether that’s good or bad for his career longevity doesn’t matter, because even if “Cowboy” knows fighting Till does nothing for him in a rankings sense, he simply wants to get in the cage and do what he’s best at.
Even if that means risking becoming a ‘gatekeeper’ for one of Europe’s potential future stars of the sport.
