After struggling with the cut down to the welterweight division’s 170-pound limit, and losing his long-awaited title fight with UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, Darren Till says he is headed up to the middleweight division.
“I’m a big dude for welterweight to be honest, so that’s probably going to be my last fight at that weight,” Darren Till said in an article he penned for PaddyPower. “Welterweight isn’t fully gone for me, but I’m going to be happy going up to middleweight now and I’ll be strong at that weight not having to cut as much weight.”
“I’m at the pinnacle of my fighting career now, I’m one of the biggest names in MMA right now,” he added. “I’m fighting the best and I am one of the best.
“I’ll have a few fights at middleweight and you never know, down the line if Woodley is still about then I can have another go at him, that’s a rematch I want.”
Darren Till then added that this move to middleweight isn’t because he can no longer make 170, but because it’s difficult to do so.
“It’s not that I can’t make the weight. I’m just a big lad so I just have to be on such a strict, regimented diet and being honest, I don’t like doing it,” he said. “People might say ‘he’s not disciplined enough’, but because I have to cut so much weight I can only eat the bare minimum of food and that’s not how I want to be training.
“I want to be eating nice, healthy, big meals and training hard, smashing my training,” he continued. “The move up will help me keep my head more relaxed over the weight cut and I’ll be training more with a smile on my face, so I’m looking forward to going to middleweight.”
Do you think middleweight is the right choice for Darren Till?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/2/2018.