Darren Till considered faking injury before UFC 244 fight

UFC middleweight contender Darren Till has admitted that he contemplated faking an injury in order to get out of his UFC 244 bout with Kelvin Gastelum.

Till went head to head with the Ultimate Fighter winner in the co-main event of Saturday night’s co-main event at Madison Square Garden, and he managed to surprise a lot of people by edging out the split decision win against the favourite.

“The Gorilla” was coming into this fight off the back of two devastating losses against Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal, but after taking the time to heal and move up to middleweight, it would appear as if he’s better than ever.

With that being said, the man himself made quite the admission in the aftermath of his win during an interview with BT Sport.

“Just to get in there tonight, I tell you,” Till told MMAJunkie. “I was trying to fake an injury before walking out. I was thinking of an injury to fake because I just simply did not want to get in there.

“Every fight, no matter what any fighter will ever tell you, they will be scared. If they tell you they’re not, it’s a blatant lie. This fighter wasn’t scared; I was terrified. I wasn’t shaking, but I just didn’t want to go. The magnitude of the event – I was doubting. I was thinking of ways to get out of the fight. This was only today and I’m just so scared.”

Till’s honesty has received widespread acclaim within the mixed martial arts community, many of whom have praised the Liverpudlian for being able to speak so openly about these issues.

The former welterweight title challenger will now turn his attention towards the top of the division, as he attempts to make a significant run at Israel Adesanya’s belt.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/4/2019.