Darren Till lost for the second straight time this past Saturday in the UFC on ESPN+ 5 main event in London. After starting his career 17-0-1, Till got a welterweight title shot this past fall. But he was battered, then submitted by Tyron Woodley. And at UFC London, in front of his home fans in England, Jorge Masvidal knocked him out cold in the second round. So after such a hot start to his career and fast rise in the UFC, what does Till need to consider next to get back on track? MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn, Matt Erickson and Ben Fowlkes provide their opinions in this edition of “Triple Take.
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Mike Bohn: Take time off to regroup and develop
Darren Till is an excellent fighter, but he’s getting into the territory in which his skill development is not quite catching up to how hard the UFC wants to push him, and the result of that is what we got on Saturday with the violent knockout loss to Jorge Masvidal.
Not to go all revisionist history, but a second assessment of Till’s resume gives room for holes to be poked. He fought largely irrelevant opponents his first four UFC bouts before he picked up his first signature win over Donald Cerrone. It was a nice performance, but “Cowboy” is arguably not his best at welterweight, and he simply couldn’t deal with Till’s size and powerful left hand.
Then we move on to that win over Stephen Thompson. It was a fine effort, but “Wonderboy” had a case for winning that night and he likely could’ve made it definitive with a little more aggression. Nevertheless, it got Till the title shot, and we all know what happened against Tyron Woodley, when Till landed a whopping zero significant strikes in over nine minutes in the octagon and had many of his flaws exposed.
Now Till sits on consecutive losses, including his first knockout, after falling to Masvidal. By no means did Till put forth an embarrassing effort; he had several positive moments before being finished. However, that’s the type of knockout that should keep Till away from the octagon for some time.
At 26, Till could still have a very long and prosperous career. Rushing back would seemingly make him extra susceptible to another knockout, though, so keeping out of action until late 2019 (or even longer) is the right play. In that time Till should seek to expand his horizons.
By no means is a departure from his current fight camp recommended, but perhaps seeking out some different training looks could prove beneficial as Till looks to better his game.
Masvidal said it perfect after the fight when he urged people not to get down on Till and praised the Brit for having a bright future. Till certainly still has potential for greatness, but he needs some careful career management because his next fight is absolutely critical and he needs to be physically and mentally prepared.
Next page – Matt Erickson: Make the move to middleweight, but don’t quit walking out to Neil Diamond
Matt Erickson: Make the move to middleweight, but don’t quit walking out to Neil Diamond
After three straight rough trips to the cage and back-to-back losses that have seen his fighting love on the rocks, it’s time for Darren Till to say hello again to the middleweight division.
Less than a year ago, he missed weight fairly badly for his home fight in Liverpool against Stephen Thompson. He went on to win that one by decision, but by coming in at 174 pounds, no matter the reason, he opened himself up for plenty of criticism. He put the blame in part on a family matter, but just a year prior, he missed weight at 176 pounds for a win over Jessin Ayari.
Despite the weight miss against Thompson, the win was enough to get him a title shot against then-champ Tyron Woodley. And though he made weight on a September morn for the fight, he was submitted the next night in the second round for the first loss of his career after Woodley battered and bloodied him with punches and elbows. And this past Saturday, he suffered the first knockout loss of his career when Jorge Masvidal put him to sleep in London and had him done too soon.
There was no indication Till necessarily had any major struggles to get down to the welterweight limit for the losses to Woodley or Masvidal, unlike his two prior misses. But the fact remains he’s missed before, and he’s big for a welterweight. History tells us big weight cuts can make fighters more susceptible to brain trauma, which can lead to knockouts, and it’s hard to discount the possibility that has become an issue for Till in the past year.
We’ve seen plenty of fighters find success by moving up a weight class, and many of them have talked about how cutting much less weight played a factor in not just their mental outlook during fight week, but their physical well-being. With back-to-back losses, both of which saw him take damage to the head, I’m a believer that it’s time for Till to make the move to 185 pounds to at least test the waters for what cutting 15 fewer pounds could do for him. He could wind up making some beautiful noise at middleweight, if you know what I mean.
But one thing he never should change? That walkout to “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond. That must remain.
Next page – Ben Fowlkes: Stay the course (though maybe with a little less head-hunting)
Ben Fowlkes: Stay the course (though maybe with a little less head-hunting)
What does Till need to do after his knockout loss to Masvidal? Well first of all, don’t freak out. Don’t do the thing where you look at your record and see two losses in a row (where there had previously been none at all) and then decide that you need to go on a spiritual quest to all the gyms of the land in order to regain your lost essence.
Don’t tell us that you’re turning into a whole new fighter. But also don’t start talking about how you’re bringing back the old Darren Till. Resist the urge to do a total makeover. Definitely don’t get out the scissors and give yourself bangs in the middle of the night.
Point is, no huge changes are necessary here. At least not yet. Most of what Till has been doing is working. You don’t beat guys like Donald Cerrone and Stephen Thompson if it isn’t. It’s like Masvidal said after the fight: “Before I dropped him I hit him with some bombs and the dude just smiled at me like, like I do to other people. The kid is headed far – he is going places for sure.”
The thing you don’t want to do at a time like this is overreact and start questioning everything. But if there is a change to be made, maybe it’s the hyper-aggressive focus on putting people away early. A little patience and poise can go a long way in a five-round fight. You don’t have to knock everyone’s head off in the first round. Not even for the home crowd, who would be content just to see you win.
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