Darren Till blames the downfall of his UFC career on choosing the wrong sparring partners.
‘The Gorilla’ burst onto the scene with big wins over Stephen Thompson and Donald Cerrone.
Back-to-back stoppage defeats against Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal forced the English fan favorite to move from welterweight to middleweight.
Darren Till looked good at 185lbs until he suffered a career-changing knee injury in training.
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Darren Till recalls career-changing sparring session
Darren Till and Tom Aspinall used to train together at Team Kaobon in Liverpool, England.
The current UFC heavyweight champion was Till’s main sparring partner for several years.
In hindsight, the MMA-turned-boxing star sees that consistently trading blows with someone so much bigger than him was a stupid idea.
Aspinall inadvertently injured Till ahead of his submission defeat to Derek Brunson in September 2021.
The 32-year-old never truly recovered before leaving the UFC after another loss against Dricus du Plessis.
“I was scheduled to fight Derek Brunson in the UFC APEX,” Till recalled during a recent interview with Demetrious Johnson.
“Eight weeks before the fight, me and Tom Aspinall were training, because obviously he used to be my former training partner.
“When I look back, I never should have been training with a guy of his size because we used to go at it like crazy. It was 100 percent every time with me and Tom. And sometimes we were even like, ‘Oh, this is getting hard.’ He hits so hard. Well, he’s f—ing massive. He’s a big boy.
“I remember one time we was wrestling and my knee got stuck in between his legs and my ACL tore.
“That, for me, felt like the beginning of the end.”
Darren Till revives career with boxing switch
In March 2023, Darren Till asked to be released from the UFC contract to pursue a boxing career.
UFC CEO Dana White granted his wish and kick-started the Scouser’s exciting run in a new sport.
Till’s boxing debut ended with an in-ring brawl after his opponent quit and claimed he was the victim of rabbit punches.
Since his controversial exhibition with Mohammad Mutie, Till has won three professional boxing bouts.
Most recently, he knocked Luke Rockhold out cold in the main event of Misfits 22 on August 30.
Till is now weighing up the options for his next fight, with Andrew Tate, Tommy Fury, Jorge Masvidal, and Tyron Woodley all rumored to be potential opponents.