ABU DHABI – Darren Till appreciated Israel Adesanya’s kind words after his loss at UFC on ESPN 14 and said he looks forward to fighting the champion in the future.
Till lost a unanimous decision to Robert Whittaker in Saturday’s main event, which took place at Flash Forum on Yas Island. A win could’ve propelled Till into a title fight against the winner of the UFC 253 bout between Adesanya and challenger Paulo Costa, but the opportunity slipped through his fingers.
Despite the fight not going Till’s way, Adesanya showered him with praise post-fight. Adesanya called his “beautiful” and said he was eager to fight Till, and believed the Brit would bounce back.
Till was informed of those comments during the post-fight news conference, and it only appeared to motivate him to get that fight.
“I’m going to have to lay off him for a while,” Till told reporters, including MMA Junkie. “All I do is scream at him in Instagram messages. I’ve got a lot of respect for Israel. I think he’s a great fight. But you know what, this is no disrespect for him, but I think he’s probably an easier fight for me than Rob because we’d probably have a great striking battle.
“Rob’s a bit different because he mixes it up. Israel’s the champ, he’s a great MMA fighter, but he’s a pure striker. I think we’d have a great fight. Rob mixed it up a little bit. He’s wild. … (Adesanya and I are) going to fight. I’ll come back, I’ll knock someone out, and we’ll fight.”
Till said that his knee blew out in the second round against Whittaker, and he’s likely headed for surgery. That will mean some time off for “The Gorilla,” but he said he’s feeling good emotionally after the bout and is looking to come back stronger.
