Darren Till on UFC 228 weight cut: “It’s been tough on me”
Darren “The Gorilla” Till is set to face Tyron Woodley at UFC 228 next month for the UFC welterweight title.
Besides the actual fight training, Till will also have another obstacle to hurdle over, although this one has nothing to do on the inside of the octagon, but rather outside of it.
In the past Till has struggled to make the proper weight at 170-pounds, as evidenced by the infamous debacle he had before facing Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC London a few months back.
Now on the brink of the biggest fight of his MMA career, all eyes will definitely be on the hard-hitting Brit in knowing he is indeed on weight for UFC 228.
If not, Till will miss a golden opportunity of capturing UFC welterweight gold, and becoming just the second British-born champion in the UFC.
When Till spoke with the media yesterday afternoon, he was brutally honest in stating that the weight cut to 170 has been completely horrible.
Despite that, Till looks to be on course.
“It’s shit. It’s shit. It’s f*cking, I hate cutting weight, I hate making weight, I hate dieting,” Darren Till said (transcript via MMA Fighting). “I’m gonna make this weight, so I can’t wait to [put up my middle fingers] when I step on them scales. I’m just, I’m in that moment now where I just, I don’t want to train anymore, I don’t want to eat good anymore. I just wish I had a hamburger in front of me, but it’s all sacrifices and I made a mistake last time. I just can’t wait to say f*ck you to everyone who just keeps babbling on about weight and, ‘He didn’t make weight, f*ck Till.’ F*ck them.”
Till continued saying that his strict dieting for this bout has made him a little cranky.
“I’m just, this camp, as much as it’s been short, it’s been tough on me,” Till said. “So I think just these next few days, I’m just in a bit of a mood. Because as I said, back home, I get to the gym, I do my work, what needs to be done, and I leave the gym and I don’t see anyone until late in the night. Now it’s sorta like, I feel like the cameras are always on me, I feel like there’s people always just nagging me here, there, everywhere. And it is part and parcel. If someone brought me a McDonald’s right now I’d cheer right up, but it’s what it is.”
“I’m not a moody person, I’ve just woke up in one of them moods. I’m tired. I just want the fight to be here. I’ve done all of my work. I’m ready for five rounds, I’m ready for one round. I’m fit. I’ve really put all of my effort into training, into dieting, into being the best me. So I’m just having a few off days.”
Till also spoke on the UFC’s decision of Kamaru Usman replacing him or Woodley should something go south ahead of the fight.
“To be honest, right, I don’t really care,” Till said of Usman. “I feel like I’m the only fighter who’s ever missed weight in the UFC, to be totally honest. I feel like anyone, when we talk about weight now, it’s Darren Till, Darren Till, all of this. I missed weight — people just need to get off it.”
“If Usman’s there and ready, and by some chance I miss weight entirely — Tyron said he wasn’t going to fight him, I saw, but it is what it is. They’ve got their back-up. Usman, they’ve told him, he’s doing what he’s told, so I’m just not arsed. I’m just focused on Friday, making 170, and then Saturday, going in and absolutely fucking destroying Tyron Woodley. That’s all I’m focused on right now.”
Will Darren Till be able to make 170 pounds for his coveted championship bout against Tyron Woodley
