Darren Till gets brutal eye poke at UFC 282 training camp: 'I felt it go to my head'
Опубликовано: 8-12-2022, 11:11, , 697, 0
Darren Till has a tough fight at UFC 282, but his worst pain may be behind him.
Preparing for a middleweight bout with Dricus Du Plessis on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Till found himself on the wrong end of a horrific eye poke, the aftermath of which he recently shared on social media as part of a photo series.
At UFC 282 media day Wednesday in Las Vegas, Till told MMA Fighting's Jose Youngs that the punch was so hard that he thought his upcoming fight was in jeopardy.
“I wrestled on the mat and rushed for a takedown – I don’t know why I’m doing this – it was the worst thing that has ever happened to me,” Till said. “The guy's middle finger, I felt it pierce my brain. In fact, I tried to keep fighting. Anatoly [Malykhin] - he just won the ONE Championship there - said: “Sit down. Sit on your ass.
“It actually got worse every day and that’s when I got really worried, ‘I can’t turn down another fight. But then it got better and better. It was one of the worst eye blows in my life anyone has ever seen. It was very bad when it happened. But it's part of the camp, isn't it?
Till has had a hard time merging fights over the past few years, having only fought one fight in 2020 and one in 2021. During this difficult period, injuries forced him to withdraw from high-profile meetings with Marvin Vettori and Jack Hermansson. the latter on two different occasions.
When the picture of his eye appeared on Instagram, he didn't realize it would cause such a stir and didn't intend to make fans worry that he would miss out on another opportunity to compete.
“I didn’t actually share it,” Till said. “When I share shit, I don't think. I should have started thinking a little more now. I just shared my week of training.
“I was in an ice bath and everything, and I had this photo of the eye on my phone because I sent it and said, “Post this.” My partner Christian said, "Chile [Sonnen] said you were posting this to get out of the fight." I thought, "What the hell does this conspiracy theorist know?" So I don't know."
Till is well aware that injuries have slowed his career down, but a couple of weeks before his 30th birthday, he remains optimistic that better days are ahead. He endures an uneven submission loss to Derek Brunson in his last fight, and while he thanks Brunson for his performance, he noted that he was less than 100 percent.
“I don’t talk much about injury, everyone knows that I was injured,” Till said. “There wasn’t much I could do for the fight, I just didn’t want to get out of the fight, that’s how it was back then. Now I know that I have a small name and people always say that I give up, but I accepted this fight. I was absolutely fucking. I don't take anything from Derek, he beat me fair and square, but the only way I was able to prepare for this fight was with just some boxing pads and some bike.
“I had a good training camp in this camp, I trained very hard, I had good partners. I think if you look at me, you will look at me on the scale every time [weighing], I will look like before.”
Till's rival Du Plessis said some strong words to him during his own fight on media day, threatening that Till might leave Las Vegas with another injury even if he entered their fight in perfect health.
It's a threat that Till takes seriously, although he warns that if Du Plessis wants to escalate his war of words before the fight, it won't end well for the former KSW champion.
“This is not chatter,” Till said. “I met these South Africans, they never used profanity in their lives, so they can’t scold me. He must say these things. I know he's ready and he's a serious contender, but we'll see. Let's see. But if he wants to do it, I will ruin his social media life. Don't get confused.
In 2 days, the last numbered UFC tournament of this year starts, do not miss this event, follow the news on 1win .
Preparing for a middleweight bout with Dricus Du Plessis on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Till found himself on the wrong end of a horrific eye poke, the aftermath of which he recently shared on social media as part of a photo series.
At UFC 282 media day Wednesday in Las Vegas, Till told MMA Fighting's Jose Youngs that the punch was so hard that he thought his upcoming fight was in jeopardy.
Darren Till on pre-fight injury
“I wrestled on the mat and rushed for a takedown – I don’t know why I’m doing this – it was the worst thing that has ever happened to me,” Till said. “The guy's middle finger, I felt it pierce my brain. In fact, I tried to keep fighting. Anatoly [Malykhin] - he just won the ONE Championship there - said: “Sit down. Sit on your ass.
“It actually got worse every day and that’s when I got really worried, ‘I can’t turn down another fight. But then it got better and better. It was one of the worst eye blows in my life anyone has ever seen. It was very bad when it happened. But it's part of the camp, isn't it?
Till has had a hard time merging fights over the past few years, having only fought one fight in 2020 and one in 2021. During this difficult period, injuries forced him to withdraw from high-profile meetings with Marvin Vettori and Jack Hermansson. the latter on two different occasions.
When the picture of his eye appeared on Instagram, he didn't realize it would cause such a stir and didn't intend to make fans worry that he would miss out on another opportunity to compete.
“I didn’t actually share it,” Till said. “When I share shit, I don't think. I should have started thinking a little more now. I just shared my week of training.
“I was in an ice bath and everything, and I had this photo of the eye on my phone because I sent it and said, “Post this.” My partner Christian said, "Chile [Sonnen] said you were posting this to get out of the fight." I thought, "What the hell does this conspiracy theorist know?" So I don't know."
Till is well aware that injuries have slowed his career down, but a couple of weeks before his 30th birthday, he remains optimistic that better days are ahead. He endures an uneven submission loss to Derek Brunson in his last fight, and while he thanks Brunson for his performance, he noted that he was less than 100 percent.
“I don’t talk much about injury, everyone knows that I was injured,” Till said. “There wasn’t much I could do for the fight, I just didn’t want to get out of the fight, that’s how it was back then. Now I know that I have a small name and people always say that I give up, but I accepted this fight. I was absolutely fucking. I don't take anything from Derek, he beat me fair and square, but the only way I was able to prepare for this fight was with just some boxing pads and some bike.
“I had a good training camp in this camp, I trained very hard, I had good partners. I think if you look at me, you will look at me on the scale every time [weighing], I will look like before.”
Till's rival Du Plessis said some strong words to him during his own fight on media day, threatening that Till might leave Las Vegas with another injury even if he entered their fight in perfect health.
It's a threat that Till takes seriously, although he warns that if Du Plessis wants to escalate his war of words before the fight, it won't end well for the former KSW champion.
“This is not chatter,” Till said. “I met these South Africans, they never used profanity in their lives, so they can’t scold me. He must say these things. I know he's ready and he's a serious contender, but we'll see. Let's see. But if he wants to do it, I will ruin his social media life. Don't get confused.
In 2 days, the last numbered UFC tournament of this year starts, do not miss this event, follow the news on 1win .
