Former UFC standout Darren Till believes his next fight will be a boxing match with current BKFC star ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry.
After dropping three straight fights in the middleweight division, Till exited the UFC to refocus himself and take a look at a few other opportunities outside of the Octagon. That includes a potential scrap with longtime frenemy Mike Perry who has been chomping at the bit to face Till in a ring or a cage ever since the pair went toe-to-toe in a behind-closed-doors sparring match in 2018.
Till was recently in attendance at the Misfits Boxing event in Manchester where he engaged in a friendly face-off with Perry backstage.
Mike Perry and Darren Till face-off in person 👀
— Lewis Simpson (@LewisSimpsonMMA) October 14, 2023
Appearing on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Darren Till revealed that he expects Misfits Boxing to offer him a contract to fight Mike Perry inside the squared circle any day now.
“I will be accepting, most probably, the offer that the Misfits are gonna give me to punch Mike Perry all over the ring,” Till said when asked where he will compete next.
Aside from a fight with Perry, Till suggested that he has been fielding offers from some other big names on the influencer boxing scene, including social media stars Jake Paul and KSI, who headlined Saturday’s ‘PRIME’ Card event in the U.K. against Tommy Fury.
“I would be a fool to turn down some of these offers coming my way, like [Mike] Perry coming from Bare Knuckle and me coming in to fight him,” Till added. “And then your YouTuber influencers. Your Jake Pauls, KSI. Even Tommy [Fury]. Okay, Tommy’s a crossover from boxing and I’m a crossover from MMA. Me and Tommy makes a lot of sense as well and Tommy would take that fight.”
However, Till did confirm that one of those offers, coming from Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, will likely go unsigned. At least until he’s nearing the end of his career.
“I feel like if I were to go into the BKFC now, it is brutal and it is a phenomenal sport, but that’s for when you’re at the end because you get f*cked up,” Till said. “You f*ck your hands up with big shots with no gloves. That’s when you start saying, ‘This is the end.’
“I’m not saying that about Perry, but yeah, I would fight him at the BKFC, but I’d probably fight him when there’s nothing left and I believe I’m in it for wars, money, and sh*t like that.”
Darren Till: I will be accepting, most probably, the offer that the Misfits are gonna give me to punch Mike Perry all over the ring.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/HpVukH6iS1
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) October 16, 2023
Darren Till Reveals Timeline for UFC Return
Even with a handful of lucrative offers being flung his way, Darren Till still has every intention of returning to the UFC one day. Asked how his departure from the promotion came to be after spending seven years with the company, ‘The Gorilla’ confirmed that it only came at his request and was nothing short of amicable.
“I lost my fight. I spoke to Hunter [Campbell]. Hunter told me, ‘Till, I still believe you’ve got the skills. You just need a little bit of rearranging here and there.’ I told Hunter to give me some time to think about what I want to do in the future,” Till said. “I’m still young. I still got my prime years in me. I flew off to Thailand, had a good long think, and I told Hunter, ‘Can I have some time away from the UFC just to get some sh*t in order?’ Stop worrying about paychecks, injuries, and this and that.
He continued, “They said, ‘Till, we’re behind you. You’ve always been that way with us so we’ll be that way with you.’ I said thank you, Hunter. When I’m good and ready, you’ll see me back in the UFC cause it ain’t about money or anything. I just want to be a good f*cking fighter. I’ve said in the past that I want to be great, but I have to get back to being good first and I’m still dedicated. People can say whatever they want. I’m still the hardest worker in my boxing gym. I strive to be great in the gym. That’s what it was. I just wanted some time away. Time away from the pressure.”
Till went on to reveal that he plans on testing his skills in boxing for the next 2-3 years before heading back to Las Vegas. He also added that, despite not speaking to Dana White or Hunter Campbell for quite some time now, he still has a strong relationship with both of them and sees no problem with returning to the UFC when he’s good and ready.
Darren Till on why he is not in the UFC.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/5xKxWKrMoL
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) October 16, 2023
Till entered the UFC in 2015 and went 5-0-1 to begin his career inside the Octagon, but a 2018 loss to Tyron Woodley kickstarted a run that saw him drop five of his last six, including three in a row, before exiting the promotion.
