Darren Till went from not wanting to fight Yoel Romero in the UFC to getting booked against him in a bareknuckle boxing bout.
What seemed like a possibility many years ago is now a reality under the BKFC banner as former UFC contenders Till and Romero are scheduled to throw down in the main event of BKFC 94 on Sept. 26 at Manchester Arena in England. It’s a highly anticipated matchup that’s caught the curiosity of the MMA world, especially given Till’s past comments on a potential matchup with the “Soldier of God.”
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“F*ck that guy. I don’t ever want to fight him. He’s a beast.” Those were Till’s own words in 2019 when asked about fighting Romero following his win over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244.
Till’s reluctance was somewhat of a troll job from the Englishman. He did find Romero to be a scary challenge but not one he would shy away from, hence why he didn’t hesitate to accept the fight with Romero once BKFC came calling.
“Back then it was just tongue-in-cheek,” Till explained in an interview with MMA Junkie. “Obviously he was a scary dude then; he’s a scary dude now. I think he’s always going to be scary. It’s Yoel Romero we’re talking about. Everyone says he’s made in a science lab. But yeah, for me back then it was tongue in cheek. Obviously I’m not going to sit here and try to put on, as you said, bravado and stuff like that. I like to be quite an honest guy, and I think it works, especially with the fans. So when the fight arose to fight him bare-knuckle, it was mouthwatering for me.
“And look, I know he’s a little bit older, and the body slows down for a lot of people. I think when it comes to a guy like Yoel, he just is what he is. You see his fights in the BKs, and he’s still got it. He still looks younger than what his age actually is. He’s still in amazing shape. He still looks like he can’t be hurt. So, for me, that’s a task and a challenge to obviously be like, you know, go in there and really beat him up and hopefully knock him out.”
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With the announcement of the matchup, Till’s 2019 comments have resurfaced online. Till believes the history between the two, along with their name value in combat sports, is making this BKFC main event a highly anticipated clash for fight fans.
“(BKFC) are telling me that they’ve had like the biggest viewing figures since since they started the BKFC with mine and Yoel’s fight, so there’s obviously a lot of interest in it,” Till said. “It’s different. It’s obviously not MMA. Yoel fought everyone in his division in MMA. I fought most of the guys, as well, but I think it’s interesting, you know? I’m the younger guy. Yoel is the big, older, scarier guy. I think people are interested to see if I can be the guy to take Yoel out at his age now, or if he’s still got it and can take a young gun out like me. I’m still young, you know what I mean? I’m only just in my mid-30s. So, yeah, they didn’t even have to ask me once they said his name. I was pretty pleased, and I accepted straight away.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Darren Till didn’t hesitate to accept Yoel Romero BKFC fight despite past remarks
