Darren Till has been warned by legendary two-weight UFC champion Daniel Cormier that his career "might be over" if he loses his comeback fight this weekend.
The Scouse middleweight is back in action for the first time in over a year on Saturday night when he faces Dricus Du Plesis at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Till requested that the pair's bout on the undercard of UFC 282 be a three-round affair, after taking part almost exclusively in five-rounders since 2017.
He is under fierce pressure in Las Vegas when he faces the South African, having gone 1-4 in his last five fights, including three stoppage defeats. He was previously unbeaten before facing Tyron Woodley in 2018 for the welterweight title, but has only won once since, and has also dealt with a string of cancellations and injuries.
"The one thing about Till is he's very popular," Cormier said during his ESPN show, DC & RC. "People still recognise him and honestly, before Leon Edwards became the champ, Till was still the most popular English fighter because he's recognisable and he's got a big personality. I can't tell you the amount of times Till has come for me on Twitter.
"He's a character but the reality is that the character only gets you so far. You've got to win fights. Darren Till has that skill set, he's training out of Sweden now with those guys like Khamzat [Chimaev] and Andreas Michael and the whole team at All Star MMA. He has to implement what they teach and he has to do it in a way that reminds everyone who Darren Till is and was between 170 and 185lb.
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"He is still young enough to make another run towards a championship opportunity. But it all starts on Saturday. And if he can't get past Du Plessis, it might be over for the time being for Till but it would skyrocket Dricus up the rankings into very, very important fights."
Till has taken on a tough challenge in Du Plessis, who hasn't lost yet under the UFC bannerand last tasted defeated four years ago against Croatian star Roberto Soldic. The South African is ranked at No.14 in the middleweight division, while Till is No.10 despite having just one win at the weight, which came over three years ago against Kelvin Gastelum.
