Darren Till still waiting to be booked: ‘I just want to fight’

Darren Till has been one of the most talked about fighters on the UFC’s roster since his first round TKO of Donald Cerrone at UFC Fight Night 118.

Although the Liverpudlian’s name has been linked with many top welterweight talents since the October victory, he’s getting restless waiting for his next booking.

“I’m feeling it. I’m starting to get hate messages off fans of mine,” Till told Ariel Helwani on this week’s episode of The MMA Hour.

“Everyone just expects the UFC and Dana to have me booked for a fight already, but there have been some things in the way. People are still high on Darren Till, so they want to see me fight again and I want to see me fight again.”

A month after his win over Cerrone, Dana White reportedly suggested that Till would fightStephen Thompson. Although the fight never came to fruition, the Team Kaobon fighter insisted that the fight was nearly on.

“It was a thing, it could have happened, but obviously some things got in the way. At the time, Wonderboy and his team didn’t feel like I had earned the fight so they declined. At the moment it does seem like none of us (welterweights) are getting booked. The welterweight division is on hold now basically.”

Till revealed that he has suffered with sinusitis since 2015 and that the infection flared up again over Christmas. When UFC inquired about his availability for UFC Fight Night 127 in London, his coach Colin Heron told him that he wouldn’t be as ready as he would like him to be going into the event.

Till explained: “(Heron) said, ‘When you’re coming back to fight in this division you’re coming in to knock someone out. You’re not going to fight a three-round, five-round fight that goes to decision. It’s not like that. I need 10 to 12 weeks to work on you.’”

London may not have been an option, but Till is confident that he is now ready to return to action:

“That fight didn’t happen but now I’m ready. Now I want to fight, but I don’t really know what’s going on. I’m training every day and I’m just waiting to get booked at the moment.”

SBG head coach John Kavanagh campaigned to have Till fight Gunnar Nelson on Twitter, which led many to believe that the fight was on the verge of being booked. However, Till claims he has not been offered any fight, but he would like his next fight to take place in the U.S. if he had his way.

“I’ll fight anyone, anywhere, but at the moment I haven’t been offered anything. In an ideal situation I would love to fight in America. It would be my first time fighting in America. I think it should be on a big pay-per-view card or the undercard to a big pay-per-view card. We’ll see what the UFC offer but at the moment they haven’t offered anything.”

Till added: “I haven’t turned down any fights, not at all. I would never turn down fights.”

Till insisted he would welcome a fight with anyone, so he can prove his worth again.

“People are asking about me everyday. After Conor McGregor I’m probably the most talked about UFC fighter, which is incredible. All that stuff is good that comes with it, but I’ve still got a lot to do,” he said.

“I’ve got all the top guys to beat and prove myself against. I know people are on this hype train. I just really want to fight and be the best, but at the moment I just don’t know what’s going on. I just want a fight to get booked against anyone. I really couldn’t care who it’s against.”

Till hopes to have a fight booked in the next two weeks.

“It’s gotta happen in the next two weeks. I’ve got to get a call to get a fight. I’m going to London as a guest fighter and it’s an honor to do that, but I’m here, there and everywhere doing interviews and stuff, but I don’t feel like I’m earning it,” Till explained.

“People are still trying to interview me and they’re still going mad about the Cerrone fight and it’s like, ‘F*ck in hell, I was over the Cerrone fight a day after it happened’. I need another fight now to feel like I’ve earned this attention.

“It’s been months and I’ve had two years off as well before that. I just want to fight again. I’m ready to fight again against anyone — anyone in the top 10, f*ck them all…f*ck everyone.”