Darren Till was “100% sincere” about wanting to corner Mike Perry: “I want him to win”

Darren Till says he’s completely sincere about wanting Mike Perry to come out on top in his fight at UFC 255 this Saturday night.

Perry is slated to return to the cage on the UFC 255 main card, where he’ll take on dangerous veteran Tim Means.

Ahead of the fight, he and Till have had an interesting relationship, to say the very least.

The pair were originally rivals, and looked like they were on a collision course in the welterweight division. When their fight didn’t materialize, they seemed on course to become friends, with Till even offering to corner Perry in his UFC 255 fight, but they were soon talking scurrilous trash talk on social media once again.

While Perry seems to harbor some legitimate ill will toward Till, Till says he has nothing against his long-time rival, and sincerely hopes he defeats Means at UFC 255 this weekend.

Darren Till was sincere about wanting to corner Mike Perry at #UFC255 and hopes Perry wins on Saturday.

(via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/o6fy9Haoj2

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 18, 2020

“I was being 100 percent sincere,” Till told ESPN. “I wanted to corner him. I wanted to speak to him. I wanted to fight him in the back of the UFC after his fight. I want him to win Saturday. I am always rooting for him, even though I know deep down he hates me.”

Mike Perry is currently riding a big win over Mickey Gall, which separated him from a tough loss to surging UFC welterweight contender Geoff Neal.

Darren Till, on the other hand, now calls the UFC middleweight division home. He’s gone 1-1 in the weight class, first defeating Kelvin Gastelum by decision, then losing a competitive decision to the former champion Robert Whittaker in July.

What do you think will come of Darren Till and Mike Perry’s complicated relationship?