Darren Till is slated to face Luke Rockhold at Misfits Boxing 22, but before the fight, Till had other opponents in mind.
This weekend, Till will be back in action after his hiatus, following his victory over Darren Stewart. Fans have been eager for his return, and he was promised a formidable opponent. Since Till and Rockhold have a history of trash talk, it’s unsurprising that the two will finally get to battle it out in the cage. Despite this intriguing matchup, Till revealed that he had other names on his wish list.
“Obviously, Misfits owed me a big fight, a pay-per-view fight, so obviously they have to come through with a big name, which obviously Nate Diaz [talked about a fight] and whatever,” Darren Till told MMA Fighting. “Then they come with Luke and I was happy with it.
“Luke, former Strikeforce world champion, former UFC world champion, you don’t get to them levels in this game without being a formidable opponent. So it’s like, I was very pleased. I was very happy with the matchup. I was extremely happy, I’m not going to lie.”
Diaz hasn’t fought since July 2024, but Till says negotiations for a matchup were going well until suddenly everything stopped.
“Nate Diaz was the one that called the fight, he named the time, place, date, weight, everything,” Till said. “I just said yes because obviously he’s the bigger side. He’s the ‘A’ side, stuff like that. But then he pulled out, so I’m willing to fight any man.
“This is probably my downfall. I don’t see fighting as pick and choose. I should have done that more in my UFC career, but I’m just willing to fight. Whoever they put in front of me, obviously if it’s a big name, because they owed me a big-name fight, I’m ready and willing.”
Till also pursued a fight with former UFC rival Jorge Masvidal, who knocked him out during their 2019 encounter. The fighter disclosed that he tried to play matchmaker but Masvidal wasn’t in the best shape at the time, which spoiled plans for a rematch in the boxing ring.
“Yeah, I actually FaceTimed Masvidal while he was in Thailand and asked him to take the fight,” Till said. “But he showed me his belly and it looked like he was having a really good time. So I was like maybe that fight doesn’t happen. But I’d just love to get that fight back because Masvidal knows I’ll knock him out if we fight, but obviously he’s doing it for the paycheck. He’s got one up on me, so I do need my revenge fight with him. But hopefully it will come one day.
“He was living his best life. He was on the drink, he was with one of my friends. He was having a phenomenal time, and I was there for it. I was like yeah! But I don’t think he would have been ready for this date. So obviously we had to go to other people, other options.”
If the bout with Rockhold in August goes through, Darren Till would happily revisit potential fights against Diaz or Masvidal. However, he also knows there are going to be other options.
“I’ve never done it for the money. That’s my problem,” Till said. “I do it because I want to fight the best. Carl Froch, Luke Rockhold, Nate Diaz, Nick Diaz, Jake Paul, we’ve got to put him up there, Tommy Fury. I like fighting these people, so just keep giving them to me. I’ll keep winning.
“Sometimes we lose and that’s a part of life. That’s what I’m here for. I love fighting. Obviously, the next three or four years is me, and then after that, I’ll probably just make a little gym and just teach jiu-jitsu classes or something like that. Ride off into the sunset, me and my woman.”
