Robert Whittaker believes his next challenge could be new middleweight contender, Darren Till.

The former middleweight champion was very impressed by Till’s UFC 244 fight against Kelvin Gastelum. The British fighter rallied through a back and forth slugfest, but ultimately edged his opponent as the split-decision winner.

“I can see him, he’s going to stay in the middleweight division and he’s going to be dangerous,” Whittaker said on Grange TV. “Now he’s in the top-five. I’m going to have to fight him.”

Till bounced back from two tough welterweight losses against Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal. In an emotional post-fight interview, Till admitted being terrified to fight and was even contemplating faking an injury.

“It was hard. It was really hard,” Till admitted after the win. “To tell you the utmost truth, I didn’t even want to go out there tonight. I was thinking of way to fake an injury.

“I’m getting a bit worked up saying this, but I was so terrified. I was so scared, man. Not scared of fighting, I like getting hit – I enjoy it. I don’t know why but I was just so scared.”

Whittaker was impressed by the fighter’s middleweight debut, and — despite Till’s nerves — he finds him entertaining to watch.

“He looked great … Whenever anyone puts a mic in his hands, I love it, I tune in. I’m going to have to fight him. I’m going to have to fight him.”

Whittaker recently surrendered the UFC title. At UFC 243, he was knocked out by the current middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, in the second round. Prior to that, he had consecutive wins against Yoel Romero, Jacare Souza and Derek Brunson.

Does a future Darren Till vs. Robert Whittaker fight interest you? Who do you think would win?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/6/2019.