Darren Till looked better than ever in his BKFC debut. Literally.
To the surprise of many, the one-time UFC welterweight title challenger showed up for his first appearance in the sport of bare-knuckle boxing absolutely jacked out of his mind. Till’s match against Aaron Chalmers at BKFC 90 in May resulted in a stellar second-round knockout and came after a three-fight win streak in boxing.
The 33-year-old veteran’s physique was too impressive to ignore, causing speculation that “The Gorilla” had gotten his hands on performance-enhancing drugs. Till insisted on Monday’s edition of “The Ariel Helwani Show”, that was far from the case.
“We obviously had two camps back to back, so I’ve sort of been in camp since February, so I think that played a big factor,” Till told Uncrowned. “But I’ve just never been really — I don’t like to say this because I have been very hardworking all my life and disciplined, but I was just super disciplined in [this] camp, just really tight on my food, and just I implemented a lot more strength training this time around. So my physique, it just had a massive change. And I’ve heard a few shouts of people saying steroids and stuff like that, and I was pleasantly unhappy about that, because it’s just pure hard work.
“I’ve never dabbled in [PEDs}. It’s never been a thing, I’d never know how to go about it. I think these people who use it — which, by the way, is 90% of the UFC roster and everything else — I think there’s a thing behind it with doctors and stuff like that, mate. I just don’t know. I think there’s too much work to go into stuff like that. You’ve got to worry about the USADA stuff and that. I just wouldn’t know how to go about it, to be honest. Me and me coach wouldn’t know where to start with it. It was just pure hard work and discipline, to be honest.”
Before setting foot in the world of bare-knuckle, Till was openly skeptical and showed little interest in the sport. Once BKFC offered a deal he couldn’t ignore, he buckled down and did all the proper preparation. Now Till believes he’s turned over a new leaf in the art of gloveless fisticuffs.
“I just wanted to feel out when I first got in there, and obviously, Aaron caught me for a second slipping,” Till said. “In the second round, I was like, ‘Alright, time to get into it.’ Stopped him quite easy. Didn’t feel like it was much effort. Obviously, I’ve got light hands. Fast as well, and a lot of power, so I do think I’m really going to bode well in this BKFC. I think I’m going to be taking over.
“I loved it. When I clipped him with that left hand, it was exhilarating. I was like, ‘Wow.’ As I said, it just didn’t take much. He stepped in and I just clipped him fairly easy. And I’m just like, if I can get all these guys like this on the back of me left, I’m excited. I’m fully involved. Fully invested.”
Life after the UFC has been good to Till, who now extends his overall combat sports win streak to a four straight since leaving the MMA giant in 2023. Regardless of his success, Till noted that he could still see a world where he returns to the sport he started with — depending on whether or not he gets knee surgery at the end of the year.
But his immediate goals are clear. Till wants to bring BKFC to his home city of Liverpool, England. He even has a shortlist of names in mind, including the one that’s followed Till for years no matter where he fights: Mike Perry.
“I think there are big fights to be made. Yoel Romero, Mike Perry, Lorenzo Hunt. They’re like my three main targets right now,” Till said.
“It doesn’t make sense [that Perry’s gone]. From what I’ve heard, it doesn’t sound like he’s coming back anytime soon. So yeah, it’s quite confusing. I’m around now in this bare-knuckle, so we can all sit down and make it happen because it’s a fight that definitely needs to happen.”
Since leaving the UFC in 2021, Perry has arguably been the biggest star in BKFC. In Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions’ MMA debut on Netflix, Perry made his return to MMA, defeating Nate Diaz by second-round TKO due to a doctor’s stoppage.
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