Despite a run of three defeats in his last four bouts, Darren Till says he will still make a big impression on the middleweight division — and that includes adding an ‘L’ to Israel Adesanya’s career record.
Till, who is scheduled to face Jack Hermansson on December 5, came up short in an entertaining five-round battle with former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in his last fight but will hope that his fight with the surging Norwegian fighter later this year will re-establish his credentials for title talk at 185-pounds — with further challenges to follow.
“I’m not looking at any of that,” Till told MMA Junkie. “I’m just looking at Jack. Me and Adesanya (will fight), me and Whittaker will probably run it back, and this time I’ll finish him in the first round. That elbow won’t go slipping this time. I’m just focused on Jack. I’m 27. I know I’ve got time on my hands, I know what I need to do and I’m just going to let it all out. I’m just focused on Jack.”
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Despite Hermansson being the focus of his objectives, the conversation turned back to the man who holds the belt at middleweight, and Till says he was very impressed by Adesanya’s performance against Paulo Costa.
“I know when the time comes I’m going to beat Israel Adesanya,” Till said. “Invite the hate, but (I) cannot take nothing away from that performance: utter masterclass, utter confidence. I can take inspiration from it even though we’re rivals. To be able to do that shows a level of maturity that I can do that. Costa just needs to come back, whatever he needs to do. But it was an utter masterclass.
“I’m never going to hate him, or any other fighters,” Till continued “I like to think I’m smart enough to know anything they say or do doesn’t affect my feelings. I’m not really sensitive in that way. I can make jokes about myself, I can make jokes about me family. I’ve seen a tweet the other day like, ‘What’s the limit, what’s not the limit?’ For me, I don’t really see people talking about family or other stuff like that. It doesn’t affect me, but I can see how it disrespects other fighters. I’m not really one of them to just hate someone because they said something.
“We’re going to fight, whether they want to fight on the streets or the cage, it’s more sensible in the cage, but I’m not going to hate on that person. I’m not going to hate on Izzy because he’s doing well or because he’s got this or he’s got that. I hate him for the fight. If we’re going to fight, yeah I’ll hate him. As a person, as a human being, if you’re a guy that’s hating, you’ve got some serious problems with yourself inside yourself. I can’t hate on anyone, I hate myself.”
