Darren Till demanded he return to three-round fights for his return to the UFC next month after competing in six main events in his last seven fights.
The Liverpool fighter will return to the octagon at UFC 282 on December 10, competing on the undercard of a light-heavyweight title fight between Jiri Prochazka and Glover Texeira. And he insisted that he ease back into competition after over a year out with a 15-minute fight, as opposed to the 25 he's used to as a main event fighter.
Till has struggled to stay consistent since losing his first fight back in 2018; a world title effort against Tyron Woodley, and has gone 1-3 since, competing just four times in those four years. And the Brit faces a tough task on his return to action when he faces Dricus Du Plessis in Las Vegas.
“If you don’t cut no corners, and you give it 110 per cent, and you’re true to yourself there’s nothing more you can do," Till told Michael Bisping on his YouTube page. "So, that’s it. I said to the UFC, I said I don’t want another main event, I said I’m sick of doing five rounds. I just wanna get back on my feet. And that’s what’s came. So, you know, it is what it is."
The Brit had never lost prior to facing Woodley in what many felt was a fast-tracked title opportunity. He was submitted on that night in a dominant performance for the defending champion, before being viciously knocked out the following March in London by Jorge Masvidal.
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Till infamously struggled with the cut to 170lb and after being stopped by Masvidal opted to make the move up to middleweight, where he hasn't fared much better. He won his debut at 185lb against Kelvin Gastellum, but was then forced out for eight months by the coronavirus pandemic before losing to Robert Whittaker. And last year he was submitted by Derek Brunson in a disappointing outing.
"I think he's strong," Till said of his upcoming opponent Du Plessis. "He looks strong, so that's one point. He's very motivated, this is the biggest fight of his life so he's obviously training very hard. He seems like he knows what he wants and who he is, but he's quite reckless.
"He bounces in and out a lot, so I think his game plan for me is going to be, I won't want to divulge too much, but that's what I'm seeing. From my point of view I just think that I'll be quicker on the feet and lighter than him and I think I can really punish him in there, landing jabs on the nose. I want to keep my cards close to my chest."
