Darren Till on his love for extreme violence, the UFC’s ‘fall-off’ and fighting Conor McGregor

Eight years on from that star-making performance against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at the Echo Arena, Darren Till still wants everyone and anyone. And he’s still not scared.

He’s been a UFC title contender, a Misfits boxer; now Till is adding a somewhat barbarous string to his martial arts bow. “The Gorilla” has penned a multi-fight deal with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), the promotion that is part-owned by Conor McGregor. By design, it is among the most brutal and violent combat sports out there.

If this strain of the fight game crosses a personal line, that’s fair. In the absence of gloves, the only thing protecting one’s skull from another’s punch is are layers of flesh, facilitating some of the most sickening knockouts this writer has ever witnessed. But for Till, this is his dreamland.

Darren Till during his Misfits Boxing debut, a stoppage of Anthony Taylor in January 2025 (Getty Images)

“In terms of being violent and loving violence, I’ll be honest, I don’t think you could find more of a suited person for bare knuckle,” he told The Independent, fresh off a session on the paddles in Thailand. “There’s nothing I love more on Earth than f***ing fighting. It’s in my blood. I love extreme violence.

“Obviously I don’t like to see people permanently hurt or stuff like that, that’s not my thing. But like I do genuinely just love violence. It was a no brainer for me. It’s never been about, ‘Oh, scared to fight bare knuckle.’ I ain’t scared to fight any type of martial arts.”

Till repeatedly emphasised that his sudden exit from Misfits came on “great terms” and hinted it wouldn’t be a permanent goodbye. The crossover boxing company has housed the Liverpudlian for a welcome career resurgence after Till succumbed to a UFC downfall that matched his staggering rise. He won all three of his bouts under the Misfits banner, with his most-recent outing seeing him stop ex-UFC champion Luke Rockhold in August.

He was earmarked for another fight with the promotion in Qatar, a stone’s throw away from his home in Dubai – but as conflict in the Middle East broke out, best-laid plans in both his personal and professional life were thrown out. Desperate to return to action, he received an offer from BKFC. “It was impossible to turn down,” he conceded, leading him to part ways with a very “understanding” Misfits.

Before confirming his next steps publicly, Till, 33, teased a “massive announcement” which sparked inevitable rumours of a UFC return, But “I don’t think UFC’s going to be on the cards as a return... now,” he told The Independent. “We’ll see later down the line, but not right now.”

This didn’t stop him from laying into the current product, mind you.

Till (left) breezed through his boxing match with fellow ex-UFC star Luke Rockhold (Getty)

He prefaced what he stressed was his “opinion” by giving Dana White – the UFC president and Till’s former boss – his due props. “I’ve got a lot of time and respect for Dana, especially what he has done building the sport,” Till began, before unleashing himself somewhat.

“He doesn’t like criticism these days. He hates it by the looks of it. I'm not going try and criticise him too much because he’ll probably start hating me. But I’ll give an opinion. It’s my f***ing opinion and I can give a f***ing opinion and no one’s going to do anything about that, not even Dana.” The temperature of this interview had gone up a tad.

“So my opinion is: I think the UFC’s fell off a bit. I think Dana’s got his foot on other things. The fights... for me... [I’m] not enjoying the fights that are being made. I feel there’s very few superstars in the UFC at the moment. I think you’ve got Ilia [Topuria], Khamzat [Chimaev], Islam [Makhachev].

“I’ve been switched off by it massively in the past year, but as I said, this is not me trying to criticise anyone. It’s just my f***ing opinion. I am entitled to an opinion.

Till during his UFC stint, which brought a welterweight title shot in 2018 (Getty Images)

Till accused UFC chief Dana White of being sensitivite to criticism (AP)

“And that’s the problem nowadays,” Till continued, turning focus back to White’s perceived sensitivity to criticism. “Someone gives an opinion that Dana doesn’t like and you can see it sort of gets on his back a bit. Look, I get it, but you’ve got to take your ego out of it, mate. People are allowed to criticise.”

Till speaks from a place of experience when it comes to dealing with criticism; he was once considered a tale of failed potential. After going 5-0-1 in the UFC between 2015 and 2018 to set up a welterweight title shot against Tyron Woodley, failure on that momentous occasion marked the start of a 1-5 slip, including a gut-wrenching KO by Jorge Masvidal on home soil and submission defeats to Derek Brunson and Dricus Du Plessis, the latter of whom went on to become middleweight champion.

He requested his release at the beginning of 2023, with stock and morale at an all time low. Jump to present day and Till is buoyed by a renewed sense of confidence, one that harks back to his time as a fresh-faced, undefeated fighter – only now without the naivety.

“I’d say it’s one of the times [I’ve felt most confident in my career],” he revealed, insisting that he still feels on his way to reaching his potential. “Before I’d been beaten in MMA, obviously I was a very confident young man. But this is a slightly more mature Darren Till with confidence.”

Till is buoyed by renewed confidence as he moves to BKFC (Getty Images)

Raring to take BKFC by storm, Till’s latest career move should finally allow for him to settle the score with his longest-standing rival. His volatile feud with Mike Perry has been bubbling away since his early UFC days, one which escalated from social-media insults to a heated in-cage confrontation between the pair after Till’s win over Donald Cerrone in 2017.

Perry, who is set to square off against Nate Diaz on MVP’s MMA card in May, is one of the poster boys of BKFC, so a bout between the two seems obvious to make. “I hope so, I’m signed to his organisation now, so I’m sure down the line – maybe at the end of this year – we can make that fight happen,” Till said. “Let’s just see if him and his manager want it.”

Till will make his BKFC debut on 30 May in Birmingham, though his first opponent is yet to be disclosed. Beyond his maiden outing, fantasy bookers are already dreaming of the ultimate (and most unrealistic) match-up: against the “big boss”, McGregor. Surely not, right?

Conor McGregor is a part-owner of BKFC (AFP via Getty Images)

“ I've never really thought about it,” Till said. “Me and Conor are two weight classes apart. He’s been out the game a long time. I think if he was going to come back, he'd probably try his hand in the UFC again.” That looks to be the case, with McGregor speculated to be fighting for the first time in five years this summer.

Yet it seems nothing is ever off the table with Till, who added: “If the idea ever got toyed with, yeah I would accept it. But I think for now that's sort of a fantasy fight. Our paths have never really aligned.

“I’m not one of them, just because it’s Conor McGregor or Jake Paul, like: ‘Please sir, could I have a bowl of gruel from Oliver Twist?’ When I see guys doing that, I’m just like: ‘Beg.’ I only ask for fights that make sense.”