Getty Darren Till & Kelvin Gastelum
English star Darren Till needs to take a step down in UFC competition amid his three-fight losing streak, fighter and analyst Anthony Smith said.
Till made his Octagon return at UFC 282 on December 10 when he battled surging Dricus Du Plessis during the night’s main card. And things didn’t go “The Gorilla’s” way. After a rough first round which saw the referee nearly stop the fight multiple times to protect Till from receiving more punishment, The Gorilla bounced back and put on a solid performance in round two. But, the fight ended in the final frame when Du Plessis face cranked Till, forcing the tap to earn a submission victory.
With a third straight defeat, the middleweight is on the worst skid of his 18-5 (with one no-contest) professional mixed martial arts career.
Further, Till has only won one fight since earning a 170-pound title fight in 2018. He moved up to 185 pounds after dropping back-to-back defeats to then-welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal. He won his divisional debut against Kelvin Gastelum, but then he lost matches to Robert Whittaker, Derek Brunson and now most recently, Du Plessis.
Smith Called on Till to Take Risk of Fighting a Lower-Ranked Combatant Next
During a recent episode of Michael Bisping’s “Believe You Me” podcast, Smith pointed to Till likely “second-guessing himself,” and said that taking on less-proven competition could be the remedy for the slumping scouser. However, Smith also admitted that if Till lost to a lower-ranked contender, he’d have a “big f****** problem.”
“He’s got to — and he’s not gonna want to — but he’s gonna have to back way up, and he’s gonna have to give someone way down in the rankings an opportunity,” Smith said. “Which he doesn’t want to do. He doesn’t want to do that because he wants to continue to climb, he wants to swing for the fences and get his spot back and look ahead.
“But I think the best case scenario for him is to drop way down and give one of these up-and-comers — these young guys, these unknowns — give them an opportunity to face a big-name guy that holds a decent spot in the rankings and hope that you can use that step down in competition as an opportunity to get your mojo back. The flip side of that is you drop one to one of those guys, you’ve got a big f****** problem.”
Till Said He’d Take Some Time Off, No Plan to Retire From the Sport
Till shared a video on his Instagram after the fight. He said that although he’s performed well in the gym, he hasn’t shown up on fight night in his last few performances. Further, he said he’d take some time off, but he wouldn’t be walking away from the sport.
“You don’t always get what you want in this life,” Till said. “It’s tough. F***, I’m 29 now. I’ve been at the top of this sport since 2017. I entered in the UFC in 2015.
“I’m not retiring,” Till continued. “This is not a retirement speech. I’m 29, that would be stupid to decide. I’m on a bit of a losing skid at the moment, I really am. I’m not finding me right way and stuff like that. And it’s crazy because when I’m in the gym sparring with the best guys around the world, I really am in me element.
“And then I step in there in the Octagon, I just can seem to put things together. Then I have moments — like in the second round — when I’m untouchable, but then certain things happen.”
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