Darren Till expects to be 'the face' of BKFC, still wants Mike Perry

There was a time when Darren Till was reluctant to shed his gloves and fight for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC). Then, founder David Feldman made a call with an irresistible number.

"I've been in contact with him for a while, and when he contacted me, I could not turn down the offer," Till told MMA Junkie. "Let's have a go and see what happens. I actually think it's going to be really tailor-made to the way I am, the way I fight, and I just think all of these guys are too slow. I think I'm going to have a lot of success."

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Till is scheduled to make his promotional debut in the co-main event of BKFC 90 on May 30 in Birmingham, England. He takes on Aaron Chalmers in a matchup that will be a test of whether Till enjoys this version of combat sports. If he does, he said the sky is the limit.

"If I want to be, I'm going to be the face of this bareknuckle in three fights," Till said. "I don't make anything of Chalmers. He's been around the fight game. He's got a lot of balls on him to fight me and fight the likes of Floyd Mayweather. We just come up with the best-fitted person for me in BKFC, and this was it. I'm going to go out there and do damage and create extreme violence."

When talks with BKFC started to heat up, Till's hope was that he would be debuting against longtime rival Mike Perry. A matchup between Till and Perry has been teased for the better part of a decade since they were still in the UFC, but now they are both on different paths.

Perry has been the poster child for BKFC for much of its recent history, but is currently on the cusp of a return to MMA. He will take on Nate Diaz in a May 16 showdown for MVP MMA on Netflix, then it remains to be seen if he'll return to BKFC afterward.

"He's ran," Till said. "He's running toward that big dope Nate Diaz on MVP. I've come to BKFC and now he's run away. Him and his manager need to get a grip of themselves. These two. They're a pair of bums. Sort your shit out and make the fight with me because I'll rip him to shreds.

"I hope he will come back. Honestly, I don't care about them two mongoloids fighting. A pair of down-and-out bums. Look at them. They're just slow and old, and their faces are all crusty."

At 33, Till is eager to maximize the remainder of his prime years in combat. Whether it's a long-term BKFC run or a shift elsewhere, Till is keeping all his options open. He once said that a return to the UFC would be inevitable for him, but as more time goes on, Till finds that the financial opportunities are greater in his current lane, and he's quite satisfied with his situation.

"It'll be a thorn inside of me forever," Till said of his UFC run. "If things would've been different, I know I could've been a champion in the UFC. But I did well. I paid my dues and got out and I'm still young, I'm still fresh and I haven't took a lot of damage. Since leaving the UFC I've made millions, and I'm going to make more millions. I'm not going to dwell. I'm a happy man. I've got healthy kids. I've got a beautiful girlfriend and kids and manager and coach around me."