Darren Till wants another top prospect after UFC Fight Night 109 win: 'I'm the king'

STOCKHOLM – Darren Till’s return to competition from a 582-day layoff was successful on Sunday when he defeated Jessin Ayari by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 109.

Injuries kept Till (14-0-1 MMA, 2-0-1 UFC) out of action since October 2015, but in his comeback fight, he outworked Ayari for a clear victory on the scorecards. Till was emotional after the welterweight bout, and he said that was due to the tumultuous road he traveled in the lead-up to the event, which aired on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm.

Not only did Till have to overcome a shoulder surgery during his time off, but he also had to deal with some unfortunate personal matters, he said.

“I went through a time where I split up with my girlfriend who is the mother of my child,” Till said after the win. “We had our own place together, so finding another place – and the UFC are great toward me, but they don’t pay a monthly wage, and I basically live off fighting. So I had to worry about money problems, and it wasn’t for my last fight winning the bonus, then things would have been tougher.

“(I had) shoulder surgery. I had to go to three different surgeons to make sure my shoulder was 100 percent. I’m not sitting her crying, but that’s what I had to through to get to tonight to get the win and stay undefeated. I’m the best welterweight in the world. It’s phenomenal.”

Till, 24, regained his health and got his personal affairs in order only for everything to nearly come unglued at the final moment. Till missed weight by a whopping five pounds for his welterweight fight with Ayari, but fortunately his opponent was still willing to accept the fight. Till was forced to give up 30 percent of his purse as a fine, though, and while that doesn’t make him happy, he said he’s ready to eat crow for his mistakes.

“I’ve never, ever missed weight; I’m a professional, and I do everything professionally,” Till said. “I’m 99 percent sure because of my long two-year stretch out, my body just went into shock mode on those last few pounds. I was doing everything the way I do it, but the last few pounds, I’m sitting there in a bath and a sauna, and I’m not sweating. … I put it down to having such a long layoff. Next time when I fight, I’m going to get my weight a little bit lower just so this problem doesn’t come again. I’m going to take the (expletive) everyone is going to give me, but that’s what fighting is. People miss weight. I don’t like it, but I missed weight, so what can I do? I gave Jessin 30 percent of my pay. He can have it. Fair is fair.”

Despite the hiccups, Till did what he does best when he entered the octagon on fight night: win. He pushed his undefeated streak to 15 fights with the triumphant performance and got back some of the momentum that was lost during his layoff.

Till said he is interested in returning to action at September’s UFC Fight Night event in Rotterdam, Netherlands, but he’s not ready to call out a specific opponent. He did, however, mention a desire to test himself against another top up-and-comer.

“I feel like I’m at a point in my career where now we’re name-calling, I’m not really at that stage,” Till said. “I feel like when I start breaking into the top 15 then I’ll start calling out people. Right now it’s just about knocking all the other prospects. Jessin was on a seven-fight winning streak. He was the best prospect in Europe, and I just played with him for three rounds. Who’s the next prospect? I’ll just knock him off as well because I’m the king.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 109, check out the UFC Events section of the site.