Darren Till has hit out at Jake Paul and his promotional team after claiming he was in advanced negotiations to face the American before a December bout with Cedric Doumbe was announced instead.

Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions confirmed on Monday that the 29-year-old would return to the ring against former kickboxing world champion Doumbe in Dubai on December 24. However, Till has revealed that he believed he was close to securing the fight himself, having already begun preparations for the contest.

“Me, unlike the rest, I’ve never really begged for the Jake Paul fight. I’m not into the shenanigans of begging for fights,” Till told The Ariel Helwani Show, via Yahoo Sports. “His team reached out to my team and was like, look, we want to make the Till fight. How do we get this done?”

The former UFC welterweight title challenger claimed that negotiations had progressed to the point where financial terms were largely agreed, prompting him to bring his coach to Dubai and begin training. “For me, I thought we were all good to go. I’ve been in camp now for the past two weeks with my coach. I flew him out. Getting ready, you know, seven weeks away, right around the corner,” he said.

Till also questioned Paul’s decision to face Doumbe, who has enjoyed considerable success in kickboxing and mixed martial arts but has just one professional boxing bout on his record. “I don’t think anyone outside of his own household even knows who he is. Jake probably just wants to see how his jaw’s holding up against someone who weighs about 150 pounds on a good day,” Till said.

The 33-year-old reserved his strongest criticism for Paul and Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian, accusing them of wasting his time. “It’s just a fraudulent show. Everyone’s a fraud. Jake’s a fraud. Nakisa Bidarian’s a little fraud. Wasting my time,” he said. “Disrespectful. As I said, the fraud show. Gang of frauds, gang of bums, gang of stinky little wet asses.”