After an injury laden career and a loss at UFC 282, will Darren Till retire from MMA?

Darren Till is a fan favourite in the UFC – that being said, could it be the case that this was the last time we saw him in action inside the octagon?

Going into UFC 282, it was imperative that Darren Till add a win to his column after a tough couple of years, where it felt like his love for the sport was fading, given how it was treating him. Now, it seems like his misery has been compounded with a third straight defeat; this time, at the hands of South African Dricus Du Plessis.

The fight started completely against Till wherein Du Plessis caught him out with a takedown, then held him on the floor and completely battered his face. The round could have been stopped – Till’s repeated thumbs-ups to the referee saved him. The second round looked brighter, as “The Gorilla” stung Du Plessis repeatedly. At the end of the second round, at the behest of brilliant groundwork by Du Plessis, it looked like Till was wincing in pain, before eventually losing via submission in the next round.

It has been reported, that at the end of the fight, Darren Till told Bruce Buffer that his ACL was ruptured during the fight, adding this fight to the long list of fights marred with injury. Darren Till has had some terrible luck with his injuries, especially his ACL, which he also harmed in his fight against Robert Whittaker. Given the notoriety of ACL injuries and the lengthy time spent on the sidelines, the question to be asked is if Till has the heart to make yet another return.

Posting to social media immediately after his fight, Till said, “You don’t always get what you want in this life… I’m 29 now, I’ve been at the top of this sport since 2017… I’m not retiring, this is not a retiring speech, I’m 29, that would be stupid.“ Continuing, he said, ”Whether you love me or hate me, I am sorry. I tried to put a show on, I never cut no corners… I think I am going to have a little bit of time off from the UFC and rethink stuff. I’m not retiring, I want to fight soon.”

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Darren Till’s horrid injury record has kept him from fully actualizing his potential within the octagon

This injury will not be the first time that the fighter has had to endure extreme physical and mental adversity – in his close fight with Robert Whittaker in 2020, the Briton first injured his ACL, which made him sit out on the sidelines for over a year. Till later revealed that before the fight, he had decided to push through a strain on his knee that he had collected during fight camp.

One year later, when he returned to take on Derek Brunson, it did not feel like fans got to see the best of the exquisite striker, despite his having rocked Brunson in the first couple of rounds. And, in the third round, Brunson showed the levels to his ground game, by submitting him.

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If it indeed is a repeat of the ACL injury, it will be hard to expect Till to return soon, especially at his best. Add to that, ACL injuries are exceedingly hard to recover from. With yet another setback for “The Gorilla”, it could be the case that he spends an extended amount of time on the sidelines. When he does return, the thing to see will be if he has the heart left to continue in the sport that has left him so deeply unsatisfied.

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