'Just too much ego': Darren Till blasts Dana White for being 'totally switched off from UFC'

TL;DR

Darren Till criticized UFC CEO Dana White for lacking passion and being disconnected from the UFC since Till's departure in 2022. He expressed frustration over White's demeanor and the current state of the UFC events.

Key points

Darren Till criticized Dana White's passion for the UFC.
Till believes UFC events lack excitement and star power.
He has transitioned to boxing and signed with BKFC.
Till expressed frustration over media interactions with White.

Mentioned in this story

Darren TillDana WhiteUFCBKFC

Darren Till has been doing just fine in his combat sports career without the UFC. But that doesn’t mean he believes the UFC’s been the same since his 2022 departure.

Speaking Tuesday on “The Ariel Helwani Show,” the former welterweight and middleweight contender went off on UFC CEO Dana White for a perceived lack of passion in recent years. Till highlighted White’s flippant demeanor in recent appearances as a key indicator of what’s ultimately bogged down the product he was once a part of.

"I do like Dana, but I just think Dana's ego is getting a little bit too much out of control. I think he's totally switched off from UFC,” Till told Uncrowned. “I don't even watch the UFC no more, really. I couldn't tell you half the people who fight on it. The events just aren't juicy no more. I think they've got very few stars left. And I'm pissed off, to be honest, with the media side of things. Every time Dana's in a scrum, it's like these reporters are scared to say the real thing. When they do ask questions, Dana's all sort of like, 'Who gives a s***?'

“We give a s***. I give a s***. So give us a f***ing answer, baldy. Take your ego away. I'm sorry to slag him, because I'll go on one now, but I give a s***. What do you mean, ‘Who gives a s***?’ We give a s***, so give us some f***ing answers."

Till, 33, has been one of combat’s more outspoken personalities since first rising to prominence in 2017. But as a former MMA fighter-turned-boxer — and now bare-knuckle boxer after signing with BKFC — the Liverpudlian wants to see all the nonsense end.

Take, for example, the new dynamic between White and Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn. The two promoters have grown increasingly hostile since White entered the boxing world Hearn has long called home. It’s become a heated enough that a boxing match between the 56-year-old White and 46-year-old Hearn has become a real discussion, with actual multi-million-dollar offers being issued from outside parties, according to both men.

"It just annoys me, it's just too much ego,” Till said. “It's like, as a fighter, sometimes you'd have the fighter's friend talking s*** to ya. But you can't fight — why are you talking? You'll get your jaw snapped. The fighters should be fighting. It's like the managers when they're arguing — have you seen the state of half of these managers? They all just look like potatoes, and they're all arguing like they're about that life. You just do your jobs and sign contracts, you f***ing morons. Let the fighters fight. It pisses me off.