‘I Asked UFC To Remove Me’

According to Darren Till, he asked for and was granted a release from his UFC contract.

On Tuesday night the mixed martial arts world reacted in shock when Darren Till’s name popped up on the UFC Roster Watch account. According to the bot — which tracks the addition and removal of fighters from the promotion’s ranking list — Till was removed alongside Zubaira Tukhugov and Jose Johnson.

Record-wise, it wouldn’t be the most surprising turn of events. Darren Till has gone 1-5 over his last six and has lost three fights in a row. He’s also been extremely injury prone, pulling out of five fights over the last two years. It’s been five long years since “The Gorilla” was a 16-0-1 prospect on a four fight winning streak in the UFC.

But according to Darren Till, he wasn’t cut by the UFC. Rather, he was the one that asked to be released by the fight company.

“What’s happening everyone,” Till wrote on Twitter. “Me, Dana & Hunter are still cool as f—. I asked UFC 2 remove me just 2 sort some other shit for the foreseeable, They happily agreed to release me out of contract which I appreciate.”

“I’m not going anywhere, got big plans to execute & I’ll be back,” he finished.

While that statement almost raises more questions than it answers, it’s nice to know Till is still valued by UFC brass and his departure from the company is temporary.

After Till’s third loss in a row to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 282, UFC president Dana White was asked whether Darren was at risk of losing his job. White said no.

“I mean, that’s Fight of the Night,” White told media at the post-fight press conference. “I don’t think [Darren Till’s] stock drops at all. You know, if he went out there and got destroyed in the first round, like it looked like it was gonna happen, but it did the exact opposite, he weathered that storm, stayed out of submissions. Then he comes back and you think he’s gonna win the fight.”

Unfortunately for Till, his momentum in that bout was ended halfway through the third round when he gave up his back to Du Plessis and tapped to a neck crank. Just another setback for “The Gorilla,” who now seems to have a mysterious big plan to sort himself out and get back into UFC contendership. We wish him the best in his quest.