On Saturday night, Darren Till will compete in his third boxing match of the year.
The former UFC title challenger parted ways with the promotion in 2022, requesting to be let out of his contract following three consecutive defeats.
Till is now set to face fellow former MMA star Luke Rockhold on August 30 for Misfits Boxing’s inaugural bridgerweight title.
While his opponent has looked to test himself in several different rulesets since stepping away from the Octagon, it always seemed likely that ‘The Gorilla’ would move into boxing.
Rockhold has been on the wrong end of some huge knockout losses in his career, while his opponent, who has always been a striking specialist, has only ever been stopped by strikes on one occasion in MMA.
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Darren Till was shockingly knocked out by a returning Jorge Masvidal in 2019
At the start of 2019, there was still a lot of hype surrounding Darren Till even if he had come up short when challenging for the welterweight title.
Till’s one-sided loss to Tyron Woodley at UFC 228 showed that the moment might have come too early for him but he had the opportunity to bounce back on home soil in his next outing.
The O2 Arena in London saw ‘The Gorilla’ welcome Jorge Masvidal back to the Octagon after ‘Gamebred’ had been inactive for the whole of 2018.
Though an immediate low blow from Masvidal led to an instant pause in the action, when the fight finally got started, Till looked to be on his way to a huge bounce back win.
The opening 10 seconds saw the Brit drop his opponent with a straight left hand and though his veteran opponent survived, the home crowd favorite couldn’t have asked for a better start.
Masvidal sent some warning signs back the other way with some dangerous combinations before, in the second round, he landed a clean shot to knock Till out, leaving the fans in London stunned.
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Jorge Masvidal’s knockout of Darren Till was the start of something special
At the time of the knockout, Darren Till was one of the UFC’s most exciting rising stars and while Jorge Masvidal was a respected veteran, this was a big shock at the time.
Fans didn’t realize it at the time but they were watching the first step from a new and improved ‘Gamebred’ who would go on to produce one of the most spectacular years in UFC history.
Masvidal went from being away from the Octagon for a long time after back-to-back defeats to knocking out Till, breaking a UFC record with his 5-second KO against Ben Askren before ending the year by beating Nate Diaz for the inaugural BMF belt.
He quickly became one of the biggest stars on the roster, with Till still actively pursuing a rematch with Masvidal all these years later.