UFC – Darren Till: I Was Put On This Earth To Be The GOAT
Darren Till has had turbulent couple of years. ‘The Gorilla’ was an undefeated welterweight contender up until September 2018, when he lost to Tyron Woodley in an attempt to capture the UFC welterweight title.
After another loss to Jorge Masvidal, Till decided to move up to middleweight and start a clean slate. Which he did with a win over Kelvin Gastelum last November at UFC 244. However, his comeback was short-lasting, as he lost to Robert Whittaker last month at UFC Fight Island 3, and suffered a knee injury in the process.
Ambitions That Never Fade
Chatting with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani (transcript by MMA Junkie), 27-year-old explained that his vision is still the same, despite the recent setback.
“I don’t think it’s a matter of how long it takes, I don’t know, I have no goal,” Till said. “I think when the time’s ready – I know what I was put on this earth for, no one can convince me otherwise, I was put on this earth to be a champion in the UFC and be a future GOAT. So when it happens, it’s going to happen. Until then, I’m just going to enjoy my last few days here (Dubai), and then I’m going to look forward to my next fight.”
“I just want to fight, I just want to be the best, I can’t do anything else, I will not be able to retire if I don’t become one of the best. … I have to do it, I’ve got to do it, and I’m so determined and convinced. I’m going to train harder, and I’m going to be more vicious and violent as ever.”
No Excuses For Darren Till
Till has made no excuses for his loss to Whittaker, despite the fact that he tore his MCL during the second round of the fight.
“When people give excuses and stuff over little things in life and the weight cuts or whatever, it just doesn’t cohere with me. You either win a fight or you lose a fight,” he said. “There ain’t no ifs, buts, whats. Yeah, if my knee was a little bit better, maybe things would have been a bit different. But it was a 3-2 fight for him or 3-2 fight for me, so I haven’t left that fight thinking anything.
“He was the former champ. A few more fights, and I am going to be the champion. I want that. I see all these – when you’re doing your chats with [Daniel Cormier] and he’s calling Khabib [Nurmagomedov] the GOAT, I love seeing that because it makes me thrive to one day have my name mentioned like that.
“People could watch this now and be like, ‘Yeah, whatever Till,’ and people will be like, ‘Yeah, Till’s definitely going to be a GOAT,’ but it’s just what I set out to do. Step by step, I’m proving it, and I’m a high-level fighter. I’m a high-level striker in MMA.”
Do you believe Darren Till has what it takes to join the GOAT conversation one day?
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