Darren Till: If I fight Stephen Thompson, ‘I want to devastate his life’

Darren Till will wait while the UFC decides who will be his next opponent for the main event of UFC Fight Night 130 in Liverpool, England. Although it has been rumored that Jorge Masvidal and Robbie Lawler would take the fight, nothing is official as of yet.

However, as Till told Combate, he is interested in another name: Stephen Thompson, but not for a five-round match. As Darren explained, he wants to meet the former title challenger to see if he can brutally knock him out.

“Stephen Thompson is a great striker,” Till said. “He’s smart, he’s not a brawler. His style is very well thought out, just like mine is as well. I know I can be smarter than him in the Octagon. I don’t want to beat him after five rounds. I want to knock him out. I want to devastate his life.”

Already being considered for title contention, Till guaranteed that even after a potential win over Stephen Thompson, he would not call out the champion or take any shortcuts in the welterweight division.

“Even if I beat Thompson I won’t grab the microphone and ask for a title shot,” Till said. “I want to prove I’m the best and not be like Colby Covington who defeated some guys and wants to force his way into a title shot because he knows he’s not good enough. I want to defeat everybody, put the belt around my shoulder and think ‘Now what? Who can beat me?’ I want no shortcuts on my way to the belt. And If I’m bested on my way there, screw it.”

Darren Till (16-0-1) currently rides a three-fight winning streak in the UFC, with wins over the likes of Jessin Ayari, Bojan Velickovic, and most recently Donald Cerrone in October 2017.