Darren Till insists on returning to the UFC.
Till (18-5-1 MMA, 6-5-1 UFC) requested his release from the UFC in March 2023. He’ll make his professional boxing debut vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (53-6-1, 1 NC) in a six-round, 190-pound bout July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The event, which is headlined by Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, streams live on Netflix.
While his current focus may be on boxing, the former UFC title challenger still has every intention of competing in the octagon again.
“Yeah, that’s not over for me,” Till said on “The MMA Hour.” “I’m going to win a UFC title. I know I am. I speak to the UFC bosses all the time. They just invited me to Manchester (UFC 304). … I’m going to come into this boxing scene in a storm, and then I’m going to go back to UFC and get a title, and then I’m just going to say, ‘Right, I’ve done it. I was one of the best. See you later, bye bye.’
“You can say I’m not going to, but I’ve solely got my sights on making a whole lot of money now, beating up a few dudes, which I know I’m going to 100 percent do. I don’t think any of these dudes are going to be able to handle me, I really don’t.”
Till is 1-5 in his past six UFC fights, with his most recent a submission loss to current middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 282. Till looked fluid on the feet until the grappling exchanges slowed him down.
“Dricus is beating everyone, and I beat him up for two rounds before he stopped me,” Till said. “That pisses me off a little bit. I know I could beat the champion. People, when they see Dricus now, it’s like, ‘Oh wow, we thought Till was finished. Is he actually finished because he pieced the champ up?'”
