Darren Till not worried about losing at UFC 244: ‘At least I didn’t take the sh*tbag route’

UFC middleweight Darren Till says that he’s not worried about a third straight loss at UFC 244, insisting he won’t take the ‘sh*tbag route’ in his career.

“The Gorilla” was recently interviewed by Chisanga Malata of Express and confirmed the reports that UFC president Dana White did not want him to fight Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244. After being tapped out by Tyron Woodley and getting knocked out by Jorge Masvidal, White is worried Till may potentially lose three straight fights. But according to the Englishman, he’s not worried about that in the least. He just wants the toughest opponent out there for his UFC middleweight debut, and he told White exactly that.

“It could go the other way and (Gastelum) could be victorious on that night. We’ll just have to see,” Darren Till said. “Yeah, it’s a third loss. But at least I didn’t take the s**tbag route. I’m fighting the best and I’m taking all these (risks).

“Dana tried to convince me not to take the fight. And I was like, ‘Why?’ So if it’s another loss – which it won’t be – so what?”

It’s nice to see Darren Till say that he wants the toughest fights possible when many other fighters in his situation would want a tune-up fight instead. Not only is Till coming off of two straight losses, but he’s also moving up a weight class to fight Gastelum, one of the top-five ranked middleweights in the world. There’s no doubt it’s a risky fight.

But with great risk comes great reward, and Darren Till knows that a win over Gastelum would immediately vault him into title contention for Israel Adesanya’s UFC middleweight title. It’s a risk that he felt was worth taking, even if his boss White didn’t agree with him.

“Listen, I could well lose. It could be another knockout. There’s nothing really to say about that. Either it is or it isn’t,” Darren Till said. “I know what I’m good at. And if I do it, Kelvin won’t touch me. He won’t. He simply won’t lay a glove on me.”

Do you gain some more respect for Darren Till knowing he wants the toughest fights possible and didn’t want a tune-up fight for his UFC middleweight debut?

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