Darren Till left it all in the cage on Saturday night, and an early injury may keep him out of it for the foreseeable future.
The middleweight contender spent five rounds with former champion Robert Whittaker in the UFC main event on ESPN 14, falling short on the cards with 48-47 scores across the board in Whittaker’s favor.
Although Till, who was bruised, said he felt fine afterward, he admitted in the press the night after the fight that he sustained a knee injury during the fight.
“I don’t like sitting here and I’m not the type [to make] Excuses, but I have to give Rob credit in the second round, “Till said when asked if there was a problem with his leg.” He stomped on my knee, like I did Stephen Thompson. They should be illegal (laughs). My knee blew up, like my knee had dropped * pwooo * under me, crashed. That was it for the whole fight. I just had to stay static and fight it.
“I hid the pain even, I don’t think I recognized it. But it was still there. I’m not trying to sit here and say, ‘Oh, I ran out of a knee,’ whatever. Maybe I stopped for a bit, but it was a very good fight. I feel like I won it. I feel like we both won the fight; I’m not saying I feel like I won, it’s that we both win. It was a great clinical match. “
As for how he plans to address the injury, Till was unable to speak about its severity, although he said he hopes to undergo surgery at some point.
“I’m probably going to have a little surgery now,” he said. “That is nothing. I want to go back to the gym. Fix that, go back to the gym, and there are millions of fights for me, and I am one of the best in this organization and will continue to be.”
With his second straight strong performance against an elite middleweight (Till garnered a split nod over Kelvin Gastelum in his UFC debut at 185 pounds in November), “The Gorilla” seems to have plenty of options in a division that is currently full of new challenges. as well as renowned veterans.
He is interested in heading to Whittaker territory for a rematch and also intends to fight reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. However, for now, he is content to heal himself and bask in the glow of a competitive fight.
“There are some fights there,” said Till. “If Rob doesn’t have a title shot, I would love to go to New Zealand and fight Rob again. I really enjoyed the fight with him. I was in shape for five rounds. That’s all thanks to my coach Colin and my team and my family and close friends. Colin prepares me for every fight and I was ready for this fight.
“Maybe I was missing a few things we worked on at the gym and it’s a bit disappointing. But I say this here convincingly, I’m going to be a champion. These are just little walls that you face, but it’s not like I’ve lost and I’m thinking, ‘Awwww’. Either one could have won that fight tonight. I was the type, I was the most powerful type, I was landing the most powerful shots, Rob was the busiest type. This is how the fight is sometimes. Some judges were able to see the power hits in the fight, and other judges like tonight saw the busiest fighter win the fight. I just thought we both won. Obviously he won, but in my opinion we both won. “
