Darren Till is eager to rebound.
Till (18-4-1 MMA, 6-4-1 UFC) will look to snap a two-fight losing skid when he faces South African knockout artist Dricus Du Plessis (17-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at UFC 282 on Dec. 10.
Having lost four of his past five bouts, the former UFC title challenger wants to make a statement against surging contender Du Plessis.
“I think he’s tough,” Till told The MacLife. “I swear I’m just gonna come to rip this guy’s head off. I just want to beat him bad. I really do, but we’ll see.”
Till has been plagued with injuries as of late – from a broken collarbone to a torn ACL, to an injured leg, which forced him to withdraw from his fight against Jack Hermansson in July.
But Till, who’s been training with UFC 279 headliner Khamzat Chimaev, is in a good place right now and is content with the work he’s been getting at Allstars Training Center in Sweden.
“Good, as good as it can be,” Till said. “I’ve just gotta be smart with my movement. I want to spar a lot, I want to get a lot of good rounds – I’ve been getting good sparring lately with good guys. It builds me up when I have good sparring.”
Although he’s currently enduring a rough patch, Till gains confidence from his performance against former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in July 2020. Although Till lost that fight on the scorecards, he was able to drop Whittaker early and stand toe-to-toe with him in a back-and-forth battle.
Whittaker has only lost to current champion Israel Adesanya at 185 pounds. He further cemented his place as perhaps the second best in the division with an impressive win over Marvin Vettori at UFC Fight Night 209.
“Look at what Whittaker just done to Vettori and my fight with Whittaker,” Till said. “I know I can be one of the best. So I just gotta be smart with my movements and get the good rounds in and treat my body right.”
