More than six years after the first crossed paths in Poland, Darren Till says the time has come for him to fight Mike Perry.
In October 2017, the still-unbeaten Till scored what was at the time his biggest MMA win — a first-round shellacking of Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in Gdansk — after which Perry, who was in town as the UFC’s guest fighter, vocally challenged Till cageside. The face-to-face led to one of mixed martial arts’ more storied bromances, one might say, as the two frequently crossed paths and traded barbs on social media, and even sparred together on at least one occasion.
But with both now plying their trade outside of the UFC, Till, who hasn’t fought since December 2022, says that it is finally time to throw down with his old rival.
“To be totally honest with you, my mind’s only been set on one thing, on one person: the Mike Perry fight,” Till told Boxing Social, as noted by MMA Junkie.
“Obviously, he became the ‘King of Violence’ inside bare-knuckle. It’s a fight that’s been destined now for seven years, me and him. I’m really pushing for it. I don’t know what his team and that are doing, I don’t feel like they’re pushing for it as much.”
Where the fight might take place would need to be resolved. Perry suggested in a separate interview last year that Till isn’t so keen on the idea of bare-knuckle boxing, which he said might lead to a more traditional boxing bout.
“I’ve been calling [Till] out for bare-knuckle, Perry said. “Bare Knuckle’s been trying to get that, but I’m already here in England. I was talking bout Anthony Taylor talking sh*t on Twitter and Darren Till, we can put the gloves on since you’re scared to do it bare-knuckle. I’ll knock you out with eight-ounce gloves on.”
Till, though, appears to be ready to get back into action — and has namchecked a few other former foes who he’s like to run it back with, as well as some fresh faces on the influencer boxing scene.
“I think that whole scene, now Masvidal and Nate are fighting, Jake Paul, Tommy [Fury], KSI, Perry — that whole thing comes together,” Till said. “Even Woodley’s in it and stuff like that. Any one of them, I feel like it’s a big-money fight. It’s a big fight, especially with my name and their name — all the sh*t before it and the fight. I know I can beat them all, as well.
“Masvidal, yeah, the rematch with Masvidal, so get one back on him. They’re the fights (I want). Let’s say Perry’s at the top of this – Perry’s number one — and they’re all just below Perry. So if I can’t make the Perry fight happen, I’d love to make a fight with one of them happen.”
