Octagon Vet Darren Till Claims He’d Clean Out UFC Middleweight Division

Darren Till (18-5) doesn’t think very highly of the Ultimate Fighting Championship ’s middleweight division.

Till parted ways with the UFC in February 2023 on the heels of a three-fight skid, vowing to return to the promotion and win a title in the future. The former UFC welterweight title challenger, who also competed at middleweight, was recently asked to weigh in on the current rosters of both divisions.

“I think middleweight is wide open mate,” Till recently told TalkSport. “This is going to [make people] mad. I know for a fact I can beat [ Dricus Du Plessis ], I know I can beat Sean Strickland , I know I can beat Paulo Costa . They’re all the guys at the top. Now I missed Izzy’s [ Israel Adesanya ] name out there cause that’s a fight that could have, would have or should have happened. Who knows one day? But that division I know is wide open for me to be the champion. It’s quite frustrating to be honest.”

However, Till isn’t undermining the welterweight division in any way. The Liverpool, England, native deemed 170 to be a highly-stacked division with a “phenomenal” champ in Leon Edwards at the helm. While Till has traded barbs with Edwards in the past, he is admittedly now a huge fan of “Rocky.”

“Welterweight: different ballgame altogether,” Till said. “A lot of solid competitors, especially the champion, which I’m a big fan of by the way. I know we’ve had our back and forth over the years but you know I’m a huge fan of Leon. I come from a striking background myself; me and him have done a few rounds… I think he is a phenomenal fighter, think he is a phenomenal guy. That’s what I’ve got to say about the two divisions, the middleweight division’s there for me to take it and the welterweight division is just stacked full of solid guys.”

Till started his UFC journey with a six-fight unbeaten streak to earn a welterweight title shot against Tyron Woodley in 2018. The then 17-0 prospect went on to suffer a submission loss against Woodley and never quite managed to regain the momentum he once seemed to possess. Till went 1-5 in the UFC following his title loss, albeit all of his losses came against elite competition.

Till was scheduled to make his boxing debut against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson undercard this July. While the card has now been postponed to November, Till still expects to be a part of the show.