One of UFC’s biggest names removed from company roster

Rory Fleming

The fight game is a ruthless business.

The biggest name in British mixed martial arts, Darren Till, has been removed from the UFC’s roster following a run of five losses in his last six fights.

Making his UFC debut in 2015, the Liverpool-born fighter rose through the ranks of MMA’s most widely-known organisation, defeating the likes of Donald Cerrone and Steven Thompson on route to an eventual Welterweight Championship fight.

Till lost his sole Championship fight.

Squaring off against Tyrone Woodley at UFC 228 in September of 2018, the muay thai specialist succumbed to a second round D’Arce choke, seeing Till fall to the first defeat of his MMA career.

Since that night at the American Airlines Centre in Dallas, Texas, the now 30-year-old has endured a torrid time both inside and outside of the cage.

Following a loss to Jorge Masvidal in front of a home crowd at Liverpool’s Echo Arena, Till made the 15 pound jump up to middleweight in an attempt to revive his UFC title aspirations in the wake of two consecutive defeats.

Masvidal beat Till in front of a capacity crowd in Liverpool.

Till defeated the seasoned Kelvin Gastelum via split decision in his first bout at 185 pounds, however consecutive losses to Robert Whittaker and Derek Brunson followed, seeing the outspoken fighter drop out of any Middleweight title fight discussions.

In what appeared to be a last-chance-saloon of sorts, the former welterweight title contender faced off against rising middleweight star Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 282 last December.

Moving to Sweden to train with the all-conquering grappling phenom Khamzat Chimaev, it appeared Till was making the necessary sacrifices to get his career back on the path to UFC glory, and speaking prior to the bout, Till said that “From my point of view I just think that I’ll be quicker on the feet and lighter than him and I think I can really punish him in there, landing jabs on the nose. I want to keep my cards close to my chest”.

Till relocated to Sweden to train with Khamzat Chimaev.

Unfortunately for the Liverpool-born fighter though, suffering from what appeared to be a nasty knee injury, the South African Du Plessis choked out Till in the third round, in what seemed to be a seminal moment in the British fighter’s career.

Till has also had a number of issues outside of the cage too, with a well-publicised arrest in Spain and a drink-driving offence in Sweden.

Reacting to the news of his removal from the UFC roster on Twitter, the former Welterweight contender stated that he had been the one to initiate the contract release, before adding that “I’m not going anywhere, got big plans to execute and I’ll be back”.

What’s happening everyone,
Me, Dana & Hunter are still cool as fuck.
I asked UFC 2 remove me just 2 sort some other shit for the foreseeable,
They happily agreed to release me out of contract which I appreciate.
I’m not going anywhere, got big plans to execute & I’ll be back. 🦍

— DT (@darrentill2) March 1, 2023