According to a report by former UFC champion turned color commentator, Michael Bisping, a major knee injury could have played a part in Darren Till’s loss to Derek Brunson at UFC Vegas 36.
Bisping revealed the injury while speaking to BT Sport following the matchup on September 4.
“I went backstage to see Darren after the fight,” Bisping said. “He was very disappointed, of course, but he’s a man. He was holding it together. He was frustrated, and understandably so. I spent about 30 minutes with him and Colin Heron, just talking to him and giving him some advice. Perhaps I’m breaking guy code here, but there was an injury coming into that fight. He tore his ACL about 10 weeks ago and he never mentioned it.”
An ACL tear is incredibly common in MMA but a quick turnaround from an injury like that, is not. 10 weeks is not nearly enough time to properly allow a tear to heal, especially if he was training on it leading up to the fight.
Till himself has not confirmed the injury, though he’s not the type to do so. He did, ironically, post a photo of Bisping winning the UFC title leading many to wonder if he was hyping himself for a long run towards being a champion, similar to the way Bisping eventually won gold.
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“It’s an excuse, it’s a reason, whatever you want to call it,” Bisong said. “He never mentioned it, and I’m sure Derek had problems, as well. But certainly with that kind of injury – and he said he was having all kinds of medical treatment leading up to the fight – of course, with that injury, it would’ve hampered his performance. But still, you can’t take away from Derek Brunson on that night. Darren chose to step in.”
Brunson pieced Till apart and eventually secured a rear-naked choke submission in the third round. This is the second straight loss for Till and his fourth loss out of his last fight UFC appearances.
Darren Till reportedly tore his ACL 10 weeks before loss to Derek Brunson