Till’s ‘Big Bollocks’ Are On Display Coming Into Gastelum Fight

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

UFC 244 is right around the corner on November 2nd and with that the return of Darren Till. “The Gorilla” has been out of action since suffering a bad KO loss to Jorge Masvidal in March, his second loss in a row after losing a title fight against Tyron Woodley by submission. There’ll be no step down in competition for Till, either. His upcoming fight at Madison Square Garden is against the formidable Kelvin Gastelum. Add in the fact that this is Till’s first bout at middleweight and you start to wonder what the guy did to deserve this suicide mission.

But Darren has made it clear leading up to the fight that he wanted the challenge and welcomed it. He expanded on that mindset during a media scrum at the UFC Performance Institute.

”A lot of people keep saying about me, I have big bollocks taking this fight,” Till said (video via The Express). “I don’t see it as that. Where I come from, we have the fighter mentality. I’m here to fight the best, win or lose. I’m here to fight all these tough fighters. I don’t really understand the concept of an easier path or easier fights. If that’s what you want maybe you should look for a different career.”

”I’m coming off two losses and I’m taking one of the most riskiest fights not just in the middleweight division but in the whole of the UFC. I can’t say enough about Kelvin, I got respect for him. I’m going in there to prove my worth against him.”

“Listen, I could well lose,” he admitted. “It could be another knockout. There’s nothing really to say about that. Either it is or it isn’t. 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. It could go the other way and he could be victorious on that night. We’ll just have to see. But 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?”

Till sounds mentally prepared for whatever happens. He’s not paralyzed by the idea of losing, and he’s also excited to get the win, in part so he can slag off all his doubters in the cage after.

“As soon as I beat Kelvin and I get on that mic, make sure your cameras are rolling because you’ll know what I have to say,” Till declared. “I’m not going to say it now, but I’ve got stuff to say to a lot of people. To a lot of people who don’t believe in me and are so quick to turn their backs. They know who they are and a lot of the casuals know who they are. And I certainly know who they are. Make sure the camera is rolling when that mic gets put to me and my hand gets raised.”