Darren Till

Darren Till (born 24 December 1992) is an English mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai kickboxer, currently competing in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Till also competed in the Welterweight division, and once challenged for the UFC Welterweight Championship. As of July 18, he is #5 in the UFC middleweight rankings.

Till was born in Liverpool, England to parents who were both of Scottish descent. He began training in Muay Thai at the age of 12 and turned professional at the age of 15. Till made the decision to train in MMA under Team Kaobon at the age of 17. Till was involved in a fight at a party in August 2012 and was stabbed twice in the back, after confronting a large group of men. It was a near death experience as the knife cut deep into his body, missing his main artery by a millimetre. After the incident, his then-coach Colin Heron advised him to go to Brazil to train with Kaobon's previous Luta Livre coach Marcelo Brigadeiro, as living in Liverpool caused too much distraction in his life. Team Kaobon rallied round and raised the funds and packed him off. He moved to Brazil to pursue his MMA career and to teach Muay Thai. Till's initial plan was to stay in Brazil for just six months, although Heron's thinking was much different as he intended on having Till stay in Brazil for as long as possible, in order to keep him away from Liverpool's distractions. Till ended up staying for three and a half years.

Early career

Till spent much of his early MMA career in Santa Catarina, Brazil where he was part of "Astra Fight Team". He compiled an amateur record of 3-0 before turning professional, with a total of 11 fights in Brazil and one fight in Argentina. Prior to joining the UFC, Till fought eight times in 2013 alone and his record was 12-0 with seven KO/TKO wins.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

2015

Till faced Brazilian Wendell de Oliveira Marques in his UFC debut on nine days notice at UFC Fight Night 67 on 30 May 2015. Oliveira managed to control most of round one by pinning Till to the fence, kneeing him in the abdomen and the upper inner thighs. In round two, Till successfully completed an early shot and took Oliveira down, ending up on top where he rained down elbows. He knocked out Oliveira and secured his first UFC win.

Till next faced Nicolas Dalby on 24 October 2015 at UFC Fight Night 76. After a back and forth fight, the bout was scored a majority draw. Both participants were awarded the Fight of the Night bonus.

2017

After a significant shoulder injury and various personal issues kept him out of action for an extended period of time, Till returned to face Jessin Ayari on 28 May 2017 at UFC Fight Night 109. He missed the non-title Welterweight limit of 171 pounds by 5 pounds, and had to give 20 percent of his fight earnings to his opponent. He explained that he had missed weight due to his long lay off from competition and that his body had not responded as well to the weight cutting process as it had in the past. Despite this difficult road to the fight, Till outpointed Ayari on the scorecards to win a unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 29–27).

On 1 August 2017, Till announced that he had signed a new, five-fight deal with the UFC.

Till faced Bojan Veličković on 2 September 2017 at UFC Fight Night 115. Till extended his undefeated streak via unanimous decision.

Till faced Donald Cerrone on 21 October 2017 at UFC Fight Night 118. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. This dominant win earned him the Performance of the Night bonus award.

2018

Till faced former UFC Welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson at UFC Fight Night 130 on 27 May 2018. At the weigh-ins, Till weighed in at 174.5 pounds, 3.5 pounds over the Welterweight non-title fight limit of 171. After negotiating with Thompson's team, the bout proceeded at a catchweight with the stipulation that Till could not weigh more than 188 pounds on the day of the fight. Till also forfeited 30 percent of his purse to Thompson. Till won the close fight via unanimous decision. He outstruck Thompson 38 to 30 in terms of significant strikes and scored the only knockdown of the fight in the fifth round. Despite this however, 22 of 25 media outlets scored the bout in favor of Thompson.

Till was given the opportunity to face Tyron Woodley on 8 September 2018 at UFC 228, challenging him for the UFC Welterweight championship. He lost the fight via d'arce choke in the second round after being dropped by the champion.

2019

Despite talks of a potential move up to Middleweight, Till stayed at Welterweight and faced Jorge Masvidal on 16 March 2019 at UFC Fight Night 147. Till lost the fight by knockout in the second round. Both participants were awarded a Fight of the Night bonus award.

Move to Middleweight

On 26 August, it was announced Till will be returning to the middleweight division, facing Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244 on 2 November. He won the fight via split decision.

Till is scheduled to face Robert Whittaker on July 25, 2020 at UFC on ESPN 14.

Mixed martial arts

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Performance of the Night (One time)
  • Fight of the Night (Two times)
• Pundit Arena
  • 2017 Breakthrough Fighter of the Year
• MMADNA.nl
  • 2017 Rising Star of the Year.

Stabbing incident 2012 in England

Till was involved in a fight at a party in August 2012 and was stabbed twice in the back, after confronting a group of men.

Canary Islands incident

On 21 April 2019, it was revealed that Till had been arrested in Tenerife, Canary Islands on 18 April after trashing a hotel room after he was asked to leave, and for also stealing a taxi cab while the driver was loading Till's luggage into the trunk. Till and four other involved individuals were sentenced for a crime of damage and unauthorised use of a vehicle, and were fined approximately £10,000.

Till has three daughters, Isabella (born 2014), Zara (born 2018) and Raya (born 2020). He has a tattoo on his left arm of the mother of his child for a birthday gift. He also has a tattoo on the right side of his neck with the name of his sister Caitlin.

Till was once involved in a stabbing incident that left him with two scars on his back. According to the 26-year-old Muay Thai stylist, he fought "multiple bouncers and patrons" at a club during a party in August 2012. Sensing that life in Liverpool, England, was detrimental to his development, Till's coach advised him to move to Brazil to continue his training. He wound up staying in the South American country for three and a half years despite initial plans for a six-month stay.

He is fluent in Portuguese.