If Darren Till beats Robert Whittaker in the UFC on ESPN 14, he doesn’t see his way ahead leading to anything other than a showdown with reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
After knocking out the only interim title contender Kelvin Gastelum by split decision on his 185-pound debut and with a scheduled fight with a former champion this weekend, Till can’t understand why he would entertain any other fight in the division if wins on Saturday night.
“Just look at my resume,” Till said when he spoke to MMA Fighting during the UFC on ESPN 14 media day on Tuesday. “Just look at my welterweight resume and now look at my middleweight resume.
“Look at the two guys I fight with in my middleweight debut. Of course, I deserve a shot at the title. “
Last weekend Jack Hermansson claimed a win of his own against Gastelum with a nasty first-round heel hook. Then, he called the winner of the next fight between Till and Whittaker as his next opponent.
While Till is not discounting Hermansson or anyone else in the division, he only believes that a title fight against Adesanya is the natural next step for him with a win.
“I have never campaigned for [a title shot]”Till said.” Even when I beat Stephen Thompson in my hometown, I didn’t campaign for the title shot, but I feel like the stars have lined up. I beat [Kelvin] Gastelum easily, I might add, and it gave Adesanya the most trouble. Now on Saturday I see myself hitting Whittaker. I am beating two of the best middleweight players.
“Where do you want to go? Do you want me to go back? All these guys call me, we’ll probably see each other someday. I am not avoiding you and you are not avoiding me, but I am looking forward to it. We will see what happens on Saturday. I beat Whittaker, I don’t want to hear any other name that comes out of anyone’s mouth other than Israel Adesanya. “
Of course, Adesanya has her own business to run when she takes on the fierce Brazilian knockout artist Paulo Costa at UFC 253 in September.
Furthermore, Till is not entirely convinced that the fight will actually happen, so he will stay ready for the call just in case.
“If I win, I will fight Israel Adesanya and that’s it,” said Till. “If he and Costa don’t fight, I don’t know if I see him yet. I will intervene. After this fight on Saturday, if everything goes well and I win, I’m going to jump straight back.
“I’m going to have a week off and then I’m going to go back to training and be ready for September. Something could happen.”
Till clearly has his sights set on Adesanya and the middleweight title, but he’s also not opposed to a fight against Costa if he wins in September.
That being said, Till truly believes he is on a collision course with Adesanya in what he predicts will be one of the biggest fights in UFC history.
“I think it is a bigger fight with me and Adesanya,” said Till. “Right now, I obviously don’t want to talk too much about Adesanya. I have a great person to fight on Saturday, but I think that fight could be in the top 10, top five of the UFC’s biggest fights. That is a fight that has to happen.
“If Costa wins, then I will fight him, I will campaign to fight him. But we’ll see. Until I see you both weighing in September. [19], I will believe the fight is happening. “
