Leon Edward’s accomplished everything Darren Till was supposed too yet he was the one being undermined and overlooked by the UFC whereas Darren Till was the one being pushed front and centre, funny how life works
I'm honestly really happy its worked out for Leon. Dude was ignored, mocked and sidelined for so long you couldn't help but feel bad for him. It seemed even when he won, he 'lost'. He couldn't get fights with Colby or Jorge and every victory it seemed was always about the opponent, Nate Diaz especially. The Usman fights though, changed his career for the better and he'll always be remembered for them. If he's fighting Colby next, I hope he wins. Colby would be an awful champion and Leon deserves to win because Colby ducked him back in 2021 and is only fighting now because he's the champion.
i get the joke.... but he tapped Woodly 3 times, as you stated... he didn't hit him. if you say someone hit you when they tap your shoulder to get your attention, yous a bitch 😂
For starters he let everyone convince him he was too big for welterweight when that's objectively untrue. Then he fell back on the excuse of the weight cut causing him to lose rather than the fact that he just got beat by Woodley and Masvidal. This resulted in a fat middle weight Till who never addressed what was causing him to lose in the first place.
If I'm honest darrens wrestling wasnt too bad when he first but I think his knees are just completely shagged. Darrens biggest problem was when he was at welterweight was his professionalism. Always cutting too much weight instead of keeping his weight down. And instead of using the wonderboy and masvidal weight cut as a wake up call to be more professional he just upped his weight class. And he never looked solid at 185. Always looked soft. Should have been more professional and stayed at 170
This exactly. He was a muay thai kickboxer who refused to clinch or kick. He couldn't grapple, couldn't defend takedown. He had good footspeed and a good straight left hand and that was pretty much it.
The UFC, just like boxing, don’t sell reality… they sell potential. And dude had the potential. He just didn’t have the ambition, focus and determination. He also made the mistake of buying into the hype he was hearing. The best have a chip on their shoulder and something to prove. This guy thought he had already proved it.
I agree, I remember watching his fights and wondering why the guy wasn't kicking more often because he kicks like a mule when he does, but like you said he just refused to do it for whatever reason@@irieite9666
16:28 Till’s expression says it all. The man who once felt superhuman now feels broken. I know he essentially threw away his own career, but I still feel for him, and hope he makes a comeback
Lets just be honest guys, the only way Darren stays "relevant" In todays MMA media and fandom Is through him hanging out with and being friends with Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland.
I remember sometime either before or after the Tyron Woodley fight having a conversation a buddy who was a big fan of Till and thought he would be the next Bisping/champion from Britain. I told him at the time that there was no chance of that happening as he isn't a good fighter let alone a great one. If you have no wrestling - No jujitsu and an average stand up game in todays MMA you really aren't going to go far. It was his sheer size and unknown quantity that got him past Cowboy Cerrone and then his mouth that talked his way into a title fight. I'm sorry but I just don't see any wasted talent or potential. He got as far as he was ever going to and got found out as soon as he stepped up in class.
some people have very bad flexibility and can t throw proper kicks. also, some people have very bad shins and they hurt themselves more when they throw leg kicks. not everyone can condition they shins to leg kick, some people just have weak shins and is better for them to never leg kick. I think Darren Till is one of them, there is no way you practice mma all your life and you dont learn to throw kicks
He fell off extra bad with the move up to middleweight, when if he was just less of a fat ass he wouldn't have to dehydrate so hard to make welterweight.
Betting man here - I think the truth behind Till, and failed prospects like him, is the fact that they were never THAT good to begin with. The reason I mention I am a betting man is because it leads me to look a look at numbers. Till's numbers have always been poor. He is a southpaw striker, as mentioned in the intro of this vid, but his output is insanely low. He averages under 3 strikes landed per minute which is very low. You can say, oh, he is like someone like Valentina Shevchenko, who also has a quite low output but makes up for it with insane technique and composure, but again the numbers just don't reflect this. Valentina has a striking differential of 1.3, meaning she lands over one more strike than her opponent for every minute of a fight. Furthermore, she absorbs under 2 strikes per minute. Till absorbs over 3, which gives him a negative strike differential. I know this seems like useless knowledge to a lot of you, but trust me, guys with bad numbers like this just don't make it at the highest level. How many champions have there been with negative strike differentials? Not many ... On top of this, Darren's technique is not clean enough ... Again, look at someone like Valentina Shevchenko, the way she moves, nothing is telegraphed, everything is clean and crisp, one hand always protecting the chin. Look at Tyron Woodley back in his time, look at any of these elite guys and how they keep their form tight when they throw. Till has his hands down and his chin straight up in the air. I know it's such a clichy, that exact line: "He fights with this hands down and his chin straight up in the air!" We've heard it a million times. But seriously, Till does do this and has always done this. Look at 1:56 of this very video. Does that look like someone who would not get countered HARD at some point against the best guys? No way ... That Woodley KO was incoming, and honestly I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. Last point is grappling, which kinda speaks for itself. The guy just wasn't well-rounded enough. You need to be able to offensively grapple in today's MMA. This is also, IMO, what is causing Conor to lose these days. Not even does he not grapple offensively, he only goes for the head. Just cover up for the first rounds and chain wrestle late, you should do fine ... This is the same issue Till has, and his time with Chimaev has something not even remotely made him better - Plessis went freakin' 6 for 6 against Till on takedowns - that's just not good enough. At this point I think Till is in his own head too much. He still fancies himself a title challenger, but he must realize he is just not there right now, far from it. He needs to go completely back to the drawing board and get right of his ego.
This video hit me on a personal note and caused me to reevaluate my priorities so that I don’t fall into the same comfort and rhythm that was keeping me stationary. I feel for Darren Till and hope he finds the drive to support his family while also regaining his passion for something.
If I have any fears in this life, it's the fear of stagnation. It's the fear of being in a long term situation where I'm not growing, not improving. Some fear is healthy. It's good to be running towards something, but it's equally beneficial to be also running from something. Stagnation is my boogeyman.
I’m thinking I could even beat Darren Till now! Lol … at checkers that is, at checkers that is! This ain’t checkers this is … well… checkers! Ha… I guess… I’ll see myself out! Dicey! Dicey!! Well if he can do it I can do it! I guess there’s hope! .. call me… the big white Hope! Only I’m Mexican! … you know what… I’m ranting… I’ll see myself out! … of your girls vagina! No seriously I’ll see myself out… of _______ haha… okay I got nothing! Sorry for wasting your time! May God Bless all you beautiful people!
Its not called wasted talent. He tried and did his best. Wasted talent would be if he was a gifted fighter who was too lazy or scared to try at all. Till fought st the highest level for years. I'd be proud.
He was an undeveloped talent. He never fixed his defensive flaws, and never improved as a fighter, even where he was good. He chose to rely on what got him to the title, even if it hindered his growth. If you refuse to develop your talent, than your talent is wasted.
Out of however many billions of people on the planet, this guy made it to the top of the heap in the hardest sport.. where should his incredible talent land him if not there?
There is something deep down afflicting Till, I’m sure a lot of us can relate to. On the verge of success any setback is enough to trigger our self sabotage. It’s tough, as a man the only way is to Win. It’s not too late. All Darren really needs is a few wins. But that will come down to mindset and coaching. Right now it’s hard to see anything motivating him besides just running out of money. But maybe there’s a comeback story to still be written. I’d love to see it
I think hes done sadly man, hes now in his 30’s and still wont get his knees fixed. Its as if hes tried to fill his time with other business ventures to mask his feelings and life lately. He has such a good striking base, but has no motivation to tighten up everywhere else. Dricus should’ve been an easy fight and its almost as if he self sabotaged himself. Hopefully he finds some sort of happiness in what ever he does
so hard to witness this downfall, he seems depressed in a way, sometimes people are hidding sadness behind a smiling face, losing confidence is way harder to rebuilt than a fat physique, and to more he will be down the harder it ll be to rebuilt. But I really hope he will be back, as you said he s still young
@@MSHCentral It showed in the next fight against Gastelum, he was visibly gun-shy. Didn't help that Gastelum got his bell rang too many times in the 5th round with Izzy either, making for an awful fight.
The fight between Wonderboy was a staring contest more so than anything else. Darren use to have confidence and aggression, but after losses; some even ko's, bad weight cuts, injuries and a lack of wrestling he just descended the ladder. He also had his chin straight up in the air he needed better boxing fundamentals regarding, defense, footwork and better hands in general. Then again, Darren needed help with everything again confidence, diet, training, gameplan and building a all-around better fighter.
That Darren till speech after Wonderboy is way overrated, just him screaming into a mic , where’s the charisma, the cleverness in it. Considering he missed weight that fight too
Darren was pushed forward too fast for sure. His offensive game was excellent, however he has the same problem as Paddy Pimblett: complete lack of standup defense and questionable takedown defense. Your defense has to match your offense to survive in the UFC.
The UFC have an obsession of replicating a Jon Jones/Conor type career. They push young stars WAY too fast. Eventually MMA guys will learn like boxers that you need to progress slowly.
These new fighters also don't have the level of dedication to the sport as Early McGregor or Jones. They get a small taste of fame and they immediately become party guys. The difference between old McGregor and other greats, even someone like Floyd Mayweather well into old age, they NEVER took off training. Jones may be the only exception to that lol.
@@james3003 agree any up and coming fighters get a taste of fame and it's goes to their head. When they lose, that hype train crashes hard and that in turn changes them mentally as well
@@Ryan-jc7qh Mcgregor was famous for his personality and for being very good at the beginning. he beat a lot of really good fighters. Jones has demolished everyone in his path, whether he used something intentionally or not, he would have kicked everyones ass either way, his game was never about strength.
It's kind crazy how many many times they've thrown talented young guys into the deep end and let them drown lately. Sage Northcutt, Johnny Walker, Chase Hooper, Raul Rosas, etc. Even if some of them end up coming back and having decent careers, they still ended up taking a ton of damage early on that they really shouldn't have.
I never thought that highly of tills skillset & never understood why people thought he was the next big thing even before his first L,the wonderboy & whittaker fights show that he had some potential but he fights with his chin up,he was always somewhat predictable,low output,& he gives large telegraphs on his feints & strikes that make his entries easy to read, his best weapons were his distance management and timing he has solid tools but isn’t good at putting everything together
If you really wanna act like Darren till didn't have potential too be great your delusional. The guy who made this video was making the point Darren never reached his prime/peak for whatever reason. At 170lbs he had the khabib effect meaning bye fight Till was rehydrating too 200lbs+ his striking and timing were elite as you mentioned his management of space elite. His defense was certainly sub par his distance management helped cover some of that up. Now it's his ground game that was just sub par at best and Woodly showed just how sub par it was. But if he would've grinded and trained like he wanted to be the man and continued to fight at 170 he at some point would've held that belt. He was only 25 when Woodly best him still so young but for whatever reason these things never came too fruition. Saying he never lived up too his potential absolutely fair enough. too say I never say what made him so special 🤥 come on now.
@@justicehall5269 maybe learn some reading comprehension skills before crying,all you did was reword my statement & lie about what i said so you can disagree because if you knew how to read i literally said “he had some potential”my point was that i never seen him being elite because despite having the tools he wasn’t able to put everything together you literally just agreed with me but pretended to disagree so you can cry 🧂 till fanboy detected 😂
Exactly, and It goes to outline the wrongs you can do to yourself/your dream and how far you can fall by not enough humility In yourself to admit defeat and loss, get out of your own way, and letting your ego consume you. Fighters like Cody Garbrandt, Dominick Reyes, and Darren Till are the best examples of that. Cody after he beat Dom Cruz (Who In my opinion Is the GOAT of the Bantamweight division) thought of himself as this untouchable savant In In the octagon who's right hand never failed him or "his IQ as he states It" (whatever the fuck that means), disrespecting and flipping the bird to his fellow "brothers" from team Alpha male In TJ Pillashaw, and the proceeded to those 2 straight fights against the man and has never been the same since. Yes TJ was juiced, but Cody's low IQ, Inability to adapt, and lack of a winners mentality was equally enough the reason why he lost those two fights and has been on the deep end since. (There's quite literally an entire YT compilation video of Cody getting dropped with left hands from fighters Including TJ himself, and It's even better seen In the rematch as soon as Cody tries to finish TJ he goes In and gets counter-attacked by a right hand that TJ had threw not once, not twice, but three times and then proceeds to get finished off again) This Is ultimately the reason why former fighters and legends like DC Cormier are to be respected, he was never one of the LHWs In the division that didn't just lay down and lose to Jon Jones. That man (especially In the rematch) took the fight to Jon, bell to bell, round to round, and kept to his words of "I'm going to be coming at you every second, trying to rip your head off" and even though Jon was probably up on the score cards In their rematch, you can tell DC made the adjustments necessary to try and adjust properly, every punch he threw was with ill Intent (And as I watched myself, I saw It). Now obviously DC lost and got finished (And he even he admits he never beat Jon), but that's the KEY TO IT. He has enough humility within himself (Unlike some of his dickhead fans that want to make excuses for him losing, because Jon was on PED's), to say he never beat Jon and to go as far to say Jon was better than the previous legends he'd fought, Including him. (There's an entire documentary on It on ESPN) This can be equated to Jon Jones being the GOAT (and I can agree, being a Jon fan), but this equally explains why DC Is a legend and to be respected. Losing to Jon never took away anything away from his legacy, and In admitting he never beat Jon and admiring his talent and saying Jon could've beaten him regardless of PED's Is what puts DC on of my top 15 all greats MMA list. But hey that's just my 2 cents on the matter, take care ya'll.
When you're on a roll like Darren was, everyone telling you that you were the next big thing, and then you get beat the way he was beat by Woodley and Masvidal it does things to you psychologically. Darren's confidence was utterly shattered, the image that he had of himself due to everything he was told was suddenly no longer true. Sadly, he wasn't ever able to get his mojo back and put himself back together
He got a hell of a lot further than most people.... got his name out there.... he's still a star and I hope he's successful in whatever he chooses to do
As a British mma fan watching Darren’s rise and fall is so hard. I don’t know what the plan is now he’s no longer with the ufc but I hope it’s only temporary
You should be an Edwards fan. Someone who can actually fight. Or maybe he's too boring for you or perhaps the wrong colour. Bet you love that can Paddy tho.
@fudgepacker Leon is the best in his division, not one of the best. The disrespect. Anyway, I'm here for the fighting, not the personality. Not all of us are shallow, media influenced sheep. I actually prefer the humble, measured, down to earth personality of Leon Edwards, to the cocky publicity sluts like Connor, Paddy, and Till.
12:43 This is where I feel Brian Ortega is at actually, because he did an interview where he actually equated him having those submisions on Volkanovski as being on that level, never mind the fact that not only did they fail but he got the crap beat out of him prior to and after that.
@LucasTFitness he also said that guys like Topuria need more wins before he fights him yet Ortega hasn't won a fight in nearly 3 years over a semi retired Zombie
You're on point mate. I honestly think his biggest strength was his biggest weakness. He had a beautiful 1-2. That left hand was beautiful powerful and accurate. But he kinda kept spamming the 1-2 and not setting up the left straight. Became Predictable. Exactly what Whittaker said.
I always felt he was overrated, for someone from a Muay Thai background he uses very little kicks knees and rarely used his lead hand, pretty phone dimensional a left cross and left elbow is all he seems to use
Till got humbled and sadly he lost too much confidence and went to the only thing he knew for a fact he could trust (left hand straight down the pipe) and I feel the fear of losing and wasting all the grind he put in to get to a fight kept piling up on him and it ended up breaking him. I hope he sees a sports psychologist to learn how to have a champions mindset and works on wrestling defence and because even if he’s terrible at it a shot feint can be a big set up for his left hand rather than just using wrestling defence.
I personally think that Till may have just been a product of the UFC hype machine. His biggest win was against Wonderboy and that fight was given Sherdog's 2018 robbery of the year award. Since then he's gone 1-5.
Darren Till, Cody Garbrant, Sage Northcutt, all examples of guys that were picked by the UFC as the next big thing. Because of that, they were rushed up the ladder and didn’t have time to develop. MMA as a whole, but particularly the UFC, has a problem with developing young prospects. The second you show potential, you get thrown to the wolves so they can milk as much money out of you as they can. Which occasionally works out (Garbrant vs Cruz) but usually doesn’t in the long run.
I have massive respect for anyone in MMA let alone UFC - he was an elite athlete that is now pivoting to fight promotion. He's writing his next chapter. "No statue was ever erected to a critic"
This video is really reflective of my own life and career failings. So much potential wasted with laziness and excuses. Strange how the brutal and simple nature of MMA teaches you about life. Need to put my nose to the grindstone like Darren had to.
I feel for Till. Ive been a fan since he stepped into the UFC, I think you can draw a lot of comparison between him and Northcutt. Lots of potential in both of them, but Till really had something going for him and he fought like a killer, not like it was a sport/pointfighting. I think the UFC pushed him to hard too fast- regardless of if it came down to his talent or charisma- they forced him to bite off more than he could chew as a young athlete. He wasnt even close to his prime by the time they gave him woodley- and on the flip side he was knocking vets out and dancing with thompson. I miss seeing him fight, and I wish his career didnt take this turn because he couldve been massive. Man to man, i hope he can get back to the peak if he wants to. He was lifting up a lot of other fighters around him and people dont really know that side of him, hes a genuine dude whos been through a lot but also met some real success in life. Nothing but the best for you Till, i really wish nothing but the best for you and your young family.
Till had 10x the skill Sage did. I get the comparison of two very young potential stars, being pushed to the top. But Till was actually competing against the best in the world and that can’t be said about Sage.
I would argue that at least Darren tried. I think Zabit Magomedsharipov is the biggest waste of talent in UFC history, he gave us a taste of his greatness and bounced without a true test.
Well Zabit retired due to health issues where as Darren just ceased progressing as a fighter and didn’t grow into what were thought good potential was. Hard for me to say he tried when he never changed or addressed his weaknesses
I will always follow Darren's career and will wish the best for him as I like him as a person, but what an awful shame his UFC turned out to be. Shot at 30 and to see that confidence in himself and his actual ability slowly fade is Madness. Great video
If they had built him up slowly I think he would have had a better UFC career but the UFC were just trying anything to get rid of Woodley 😅 I was shocked that Till didn't see that D'arce coming in today fight. Made me wonder wtf he did with his time in Brazil.
UFC rushed him. Darren said himself in early interviews, he didn't want the fast track to a title, he wanted to fight his way through the ranks and earn it, but that went out the window after the cowboy win. He still needed to adjust his style to MMA in my view. and he needed more confidence with the wrestling defense against the top guys but just didn't have the experience i think that cause him to kick less and be less aggressive. And yes he was one dimensional in there and once he was better known people were able to game plan him really well.
Turns out Leon Edwards despite getting disrespected and passed over for a title shot for years, ended up doing it the right way by slowing making his way up the rankings and beating everyone put in front of him. Although he only got the shot because Usman had pretty much beaten everyone, he made it count just when it looked as though it was going to be all for nothing.
He's 2-5 out of his last 7. But the kelvin and Thompson fights were super close, i thought he lost both. So his last CLEAR win, in my opinion, was against cerrone which also means i don't think his beaten a single elite fighter 😂
Till never had an unbeatable aura, and he's not wasted talent at all. He was never great. He's a solid fighter that could have had a great career as a ranked gatekeeper at welterweight, but he koved to middleweight because he's lazy
I never bought into the Darren Till hype, I didn’t think he was trash he just wasn’t elite level when they pushed him to the elite level and once he was there he seemed to stop evolving. I think taking a step back and tightening up his game he could still see success
I’m from Liverpool and honestly, there’s a lot of lads like Till in the city, focused on the wrong thing. But can’t deny everything that could’ve went wrong for Till did, even if he is his own worst enemy.
Dudes a physical specimen. All of his problems are psychological. Since his MMA career is basically over, maybe he can go be a father to his child in Brazil he abandoned.
The most obvious answer is he just wasn't as good as people somehow thought he was. Let's remember: he went from close fights against Nicolas Dalby and Bojan Velickovic to being a title contender just by beating Cowboy Cerrone. Cowboy wasn't just a good stylistic matchup for Darren but the UFC managed to convince us that beating him at WW meant you're elite. He then fought Wonderboy - another favorable stylistic matchup - to a split decision and got whooped by Woodley - who was not a good matchup for Darren. Afterwards his loss to Masvidal - a mid-level journeyman - allowed the UFC to conduct their next scheme: convince everyone that beating Darrent Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz made Jorge a legitimate WW title contender. His fights against Gastelum and Whittaker were probably his best performances. Both didn't really wrestle him which helped his gameplan and made him look like a legit top 5-10 MW. Him getting easily outgrappled by Brunson and Dricus though just showed again how limited his game is. It's not like he got worse. He just got exposed and didn't improve.
You can’t call it a downfall if he was never on top.. the moment he fought the top competition he got exposed.. that wonderboy fight is also controversial
Fighting for a UFC title would be considered the top for a MMA fighter… The scorecards were 2-2 going into the 5th and Till got the knock down, and have Wonderboy shooting for takedowns. He won the fight.
He never evolved his game, his karate in and out style got him to a certain point but thats it. His health issues and commitment really brought him down, honestly didn't evolve enough to get to that next level.
I remember when him and Mike Perry would have their little beef. Perry seemed like he was going on a downward spiral while Till was getting all the glory in the UFC. It’s just so funny how life turns out. Perry was able to find his footing in bare knuckle and now Till is nowhere to be seen.
Honestly if the judges gave Thompson the fight, that would've forsure helped him. He lost but didn't get finished and just show he's on that level and continue to improve
The Wonderboy fight and later the Whittaker fight gave him false confidence. He assumed because they were close decisions, that he was on their level. Completely ignoring the fact that styles make fights and just because he 'beat' WB and had a competitive fight with Rob, doesn't mean he's gonna roll over everyone below them. Darren found out the hard way that styles make fights, but even he's too delusional to accept it. He blames it on outside factors and doesn't improve.
The guy might be struggling with some mental health issue such as ADHD which makes it really hard to focus on anything. Yeah, the partying might have had an impact in his downfall yet heavy partying sometimes is part of an attempt at "self-medicating"/ dealing with the anxiety or frustration produced by not being able to concentrate and improve his fight I. Q. I don't know : just trying to show some compassion here. I don't know if being too judgmental would be of any help. Peace.
Really like how you pointed out the change in physique. I thought the same thing, he's going up in weight yet he's looking smaller. Right then I knew something wasn't going right in his off season training, maybe the lesser weightcut got him lazy idk. But nobody seemed to talk about it then so it's nice seeing it mentioned here.
He got smaller as he went up in weight bc just like the video said-if you're not doing a type of training while putting on the weight or bulking up you just look smaller and fatter,you have to train as you're gaining weight so your body recomps into a more muscular,more fit version and you're using those extra cals.Also if you're gonna drink it should be very little when training bc alcohol messes with recovery l.
i agree, when he went up, he built NO muscle, he was basically his 170 frame but with more FAT, he was fighting 185 guys as 170er.... Imagine if he actually but on a load of muscle and improve his strategy. He had an incredible mua thai record too before the ufc, why did he never use leg kicks?!?
Something I don’t see getting mentioned much anymore is how Till’s star power and hype train came about in a post-McGregor era. All the comments and tweets about Till were literally comparing him to Conor due to their left hand, counter-striking and fighting stance.
One thing you've missed is that he took a knee injury in the Whittaker fight that never really healed. Still plaguing him to this day. He left the UFC presumably to take some disallowed substances to actually heal it like Conor did.
No doubt. Those repetitive knee injuries curtailed his progress and surely affected his training. He might be a different fighter when he's juiced, more muscular and healed.
He wasn't wasted potential or wasted talent... He just wasn't as good as the promotion said he was. That's all it comes down to. Who would have known that a left hand and zero takedown defence won't carry you to a UFC title? /s
This is a good video overall, good job, I watched the whole thing and was entertained throughout. I do think though that at times you undermined how difficult it is to compete in MMA at the highest level. The partying and everything is true, he lost focus, same happened to Conor, but they are both still world class fighters. Brunson was on a streak when he beat Till, Du Plessis is about to fight for the belt. the people that he’s lost to are exceptional fighters as well. People for some reason think fighting is simple or it’s easy but these guys are the absolute best in the world at what they do. The best Golfers in the world don’t win or even place in every tournament. The best basketball/football player don’t always put up the best numbers. MMA is so unforgiving, you make one mistake, in the fight or in training camp and it can cost you in a devastating way. Losses in MMA are much harder to come back from than most other things too because of not only the mental effect it has but the physical impact. Great video though overall, for real! All love, no hate
Till was a weight bully like Adrien Broner. He was fighting small dudes, and guys in the twilights of their careers, in a weight class he struggled mightily to make. He’s 30 years old, he’s not making a comeback, he’s done. He’s been done for about half a decade now. I’m sure Till has talent but he’s not elite, save for his performance against Wonderboy.
@@regardlesslamron2096 Exactly. Like look at the quality of this video. And compare that with the childish rambling we have to endure from that tub of lard who thinks his ugly mug should always be on camera.
He had a top 5 ceiling. His lack of wrestling was always going to be an issue. He beat a declining legend and we were all in awe. His path to victory was always his left hand. If he was American born, he would’ve been just another guy. Luckily for the UFC, Leon emerged and they got their British champ.
Your video hit the great point that Darren was never really that disciplined in the first place, certain fights would motivate him more and since he was also younger all that ending and drinking could be "shaved off". With his move to MW and him getting older towards the end of his run it seemed his discipline caught up with him
This is what makes the fight game (boxing included), the most compelling of all sports. Every fighter is an individual entity, there is no team to hang a loss on. Fighters are the most emotionally accessible athletes in the world because we see them laid bare in front of us in legalized combat. Some guys like Masvidal can simply let losses roll off their back and continue slogging forward. Others, like Till, immediately lose their confidence completely, and nothing is more devastating to an athlete is a lack of confidence.
Very high quality documentaries but unlike the top channels (Mixed Martial Academic, Crunched Teeth, Patrick Gavia) some personal opinions make the doc disingenuous. I am in no way a Till fan and have thought he was overrated ever since I found MMA in 2019 but I can admit that the build up to Brunson was quite even (classic wrestler v striker odds and matchup) NOT a "Till should win" buildup besides his old diehard fanbase that always talked "future Champ" nonsense. Also, Darren was very upfront about his shortcomings. Honesty isn't "excuses" and he always admitted his shortcomings in grappling and his knee ended up being an actual serious issue. Most overrated guy in recent memory but the way ppl including you started saying he's too small for MW when he was just a shitty grappler with no conditioning is just absolute disingenuousness.
I think the one thing is if he switched up the style, and learned to grapple defensively and stayed disciplined he would be one of the best right now, he has to choose discipline or pleasure and grind in the dark
Till always hated the social media celebrity culture but ended up becoming a bit of a parody of it himself. He may have been plagued with injuries but you got the sense that he ate crap and did nothing for recovery even if he was putting work in the gym. He's looked flabby and out of shape for a good few years now. It now appears he's already given up and not attempting to fight MMA again. I don't fancy his chance in boxing either as he's still very much a muay thai guy. Very sad. I still remain a fan and hope he turns it around.
14:02 Literally Paddy Pimblett. Darren Till & Kamaru Usman are both 6ft, but look at how jacked Kamaru at 170. 16:13 This is Paddy Pimblett getting submitted if he somehow fight Charles Olivera or Islam Makhachev. And even if Islam Makachev retire, Usman Nurmagomedov will come out from Bellator & KO Paddy Pimblett.
Leon Edward’s accomplished everything Darren Till was supposed too yet he was the one being undermined and overlooked by the UFC whereas Darren Till was the one being pushed front and centre, funny how life works
Not to be tricky but
Depends how you look at it
Survival of the fittest=makes no sense
“Free Market” Chooses+Charisma attracts people=makes sense
Leon is the better fighter but Darren's got the character
I'm honestly really happy its worked out for Leon. Dude was ignored, mocked and sidelined for so long you couldn't help but feel bad for him. It seemed even when he won, he 'lost'. He couldn't get fights with Colby or Jorge and every victory it seemed was always about the opponent, Nate Diaz especially. The Usman fights though, changed his career for the better and he'll always be remembered for them. If he's fighting Colby next, I hope he wins. Colby would be an awful champion and Leon deserves to win because Colby ducked him back in 2021 and is only fighting now because he's the champion.
And that's why Leon Edwards has the best physique in the world
Well yeah Edwards has the charisma of a rock, not a hard choice.
That statistic about hitting Woodly 0 times is wrong. Darren clearly hit Woodly 3 times when tapping out.
😂
i get the joke.... but he tapped Woodly 3 times, as you stated... he didn't hit him.
if you say someone hit you when they tap your shoulder to get your attention, yous a bitch 😂
3 clean shots to the side of Woodleys arm.
@@FreddyonAcid his ass cheek actually
(*≧▽≦)ﾉｼ))
The 0 strikes landed against Woodley is crazy 😂
😅😅😅 I didn’t know that
Trying to fight like Conor with a chin up starting a combination with a lead uppercut. Like I shook my head asking WHY???
Most viewers of the channel would have landed at least 1😂
It is true. Darren landed 5 total strikes and 4 of them were in the tap to the submission.
I forgot that that's a demolition job😂😂😂
Masvidal basically absorbed all of Till’s star power and hype train and made it into a legendary end to a career
Hm to be honest Masvidal seems like a little sucker punching piece of shit Colby, Leon not a fan of the guy
Masdival aint no legend
Usman absorbed it all and released it on Masvidal, won’t forget that KO for awhile
He is @@Researchthejoos
that fight and even moreso the Ben Askren win. UFC traded mighty mouse to ONE for Jorge to be a star
For starters he let everyone convince him he was too big for welterweight when that's objectively untrue. Then he fell back on the excuse of the weight cut causing him to lose rather than the fact that he just got beat by Woodley and Masvidal. This resulted in a fat middle weight Till who never addressed what was causing him to lose in the first place.
Darren "Low T" Till
AYO check that second sentence brother
@@Atlas92936 Yooo, I just read It a second time and caught It. XD
But he was too big for welterweight. He looked absolutely giant next to Woodley.
Bro literally missed ww twice by 5 lbs like what are you on about 😭😭
His confidence was his downfall. He was so confident in his abilities that he felt like he didn’t need to learn anything new
Absolutely spot on. He reverted to the same, predictable shots over and over again.
what abilities
Yes and all the casuals and the ufc were sucking him off at the time as well. Which may or may not have added to that
@@raqqmuffin7127 wrestling , grappling , striking ( Kicks and more boxing combinations)
Same thing with Paddy now
Darren literally only throws left straight and elbow. If he can't land that his game plan goes out the window and he gets overwhelmed
Yep spot on. No talent at all
If I'm honest darrens wrestling wasnt too bad when he first but I think his knees are just completely shagged. Darrens biggest problem was when he was at welterweight was his professionalism. Always cutting too much weight instead of keeping his weight down. And instead of using the wonderboy and masvidal weight cut as a wake up call to be more professional he just upped his weight class. And he never looked solid at 185. Always looked soft. Should have been more professional and stayed at 170
Thats literally the standard for elite boxers in mma , it’s amateur level pub boxing at best
@@VR46314 has not a boxer background though
Very limited skillset
He's not a waste of talent, he was a hype job and never as good as people, particularly the ufc and media claimed him to be
This exactly. He was a muay thai kickboxer who refused to clinch or kick. He couldn't grapple, couldn't defend takedown. He had good footspeed and a good straight left hand and that was pretty much it.
@@irieite9666 He had the talent and time for more, but didn't care to learn it.
The UFC, just like boxing, don’t sell reality… they sell potential. And dude had the potential. He just didn’t have the ambition, focus and determination. He also made the mistake of buying into the hype he was hearing. The best have a chip on their shoulder and something to prove. This guy thought he had already proved it.
I agree, I remember watching his fights and wondering why the guy wasn't kicking more often because he kicks like a mule when he does, but like you said he just refused to do it for whatever reason@@irieite9666
@@irieite9666at this point you're just hating
16:28 Till’s expression says it all. The man who once felt superhuman now feels broken. I know he essentially threw away his own career, but I still feel for him, and hope he makes a comeback
Lets just be honest guys, the only way Darren stays "relevant" In todays MMA media and fandom Is through him hanging out with and being friends with Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland.
Or by turning his losing streak around outside of the ufc. A fight with mike perry in BKFC would also help his “relevancy”
@@killmosely Perry would eat him alive
@@killmosely Mike Perry would unfortunately fuck him up in bare knuckle
@@killmosely I would love to see that spar
@@killmosely swear I'd think he'd have done that by now
I remember sometime either before or after the Tyron Woodley fight having a conversation a buddy who was a big fan of Till and thought he would be the next Bisping/champion from Britain.
I told him at the time that there was no chance of that happening as he isn't a good fighter let alone a great one. If you have no wrestling - No jujitsu and an average stand up game in todays MMA you really aren't going to go far. It was his sheer size and unknown quantity that got him past Cowboy Cerrone and then his mouth that talked his way into a title fight.
I'm sorry but I just don't see any wasted talent or potential. He got as far as he was ever going to and got found out as soon as he stepped up in class.
Spot on .
I mean cowboy wasn't a great fighter either the book was out on how to easily beat him
@@darragho6358yep, I liked cowboy but he was a mental midget. He would fold under the pressure. Nate Diaz, Conor, rda.
If only Darren actually threw leg kicks, and increased his volume by just 10%. He would have never had such a bad fall off
Conor: He ain't trowin no leg kicks!
some people have very bad flexibility and can t throw proper kicks. also, some people have very bad shins and they hurt themselves more when they throw leg kicks. not everyone can condition they shins to leg kick, some people just have weak shins and is better for them to never leg kick. I think Darren Till is one of them, there is no way you practice mma all your life and you dont learn to throw kicks
@@happypill6195 Till literally only throws his left hand its not just weak shins. Fundamental training problems
Instead he flinches 100 times and throws a 1-2, dude fuckin sucks
He fell off extra bad with the move up to middleweight, when if he was just less of a fat ass he wouldn't have to dehydrate so hard to make welterweight.
Betting man here - I think the truth behind Till, and failed prospects like him, is the fact that they were never THAT good to begin with. The reason I mention I am a betting man is because it leads me to look a look at numbers. Till's numbers have always been poor. He is a southpaw striker, as mentioned in the intro of this vid, but his output is insanely low. He averages under 3 strikes landed per minute which is very low. You can say, oh, he is like someone like Valentina Shevchenko, who also has a quite low output but makes up for it with insane technique and composure, but again the numbers just don't reflect this. Valentina has a striking differential of 1.3, meaning she lands over one more strike than her opponent for every minute of a fight. Furthermore, she absorbs under 2 strikes per minute. Till absorbs over 3, which gives him a negative strike differential. I know this seems like useless knowledge to a lot of you, but trust me, guys with bad numbers like this just don't make it at the highest level. How many champions have there been with negative strike differentials? Not many ... On top of this, Darren's technique is not clean enough ... Again, look at someone like Valentina Shevchenko, the way she moves, nothing is telegraphed, everything is clean and crisp, one hand always protecting the chin. Look at Tyron Woodley back in his time, look at any of these elite guys and how they keep their form tight when they throw. Till has his hands down and his chin straight up in the air. I know it's such a clichy, that exact line: "He fights with this hands down and his chin straight up in the air!" We've heard it a million times. But seriously, Till does do this and has always done this. Look at 1:56 of this very video. Does that look like someone who would not get countered HARD at some point against the best guys? No way ... That Woodley KO was incoming, and honestly I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. Last point is grappling, which kinda speaks for itself. The guy just wasn't well-rounded enough. You need to be able to offensively grapple in today's MMA. This is also, IMO, what is causing Conor to lose these days. Not even does he not grapple offensively, he only goes for the head. Just cover up for the first rounds and chain wrestle late, you should do fine ... This is the same issue Till has, and his time with Chimaev has something not even remotely made him better - Plessis went freakin' 6 for 6 against Till on takedowns - that's just not good enough. At this point I think Till is in his own head too much. He still fancies himself a title challenger, but he must realize he is just not there right now, far from it. He needs to go completely back to the drawing board and get right of his ego.
This video hit me on a personal note and caused me to reevaluate my priorities so that I don’t fall into the same comfort and rhythm that was keeping me stationary. I feel for Darren Till and hope he finds the drive to support his family while also regaining his passion for something.
If I have any fears in this life, it's the fear of stagnation. It's the fear of being in a long term situation where I'm not growing, not improving. Some fear is healthy. It's good to be running towards something, but it's equally beneficial to be also running from something. Stagnation is my boogeyman.
I’m thinking I could even beat Darren Till now! Lol … at checkers that is, at checkers that is! This ain’t checkers this is … well… checkers! Ha… I guess… I’ll see myself out! Dicey! Dicey!! Well if he can do it I can do it! I guess there’s hope! .. call me… the big white Hope! Only I’m Mexican! … you know what… I’m ranting… I’ll see myself out! … of your girls vagina! No seriously I’ll see myself out… of _______ haha… okay I got nothing! Sorry for wasting your time! May God Bless all you beautiful people!
I feel you bro. Seems like Darren doesn't give af bout his family tho lol
@@drizzle27 Things look however you wanna see it from the outside
Proud to hear this from a RUclips thread. Positive thoughts like this is what we need. Good job y’all, keep moving forward; we got this ❤
Its not called wasted talent. He tried and did his best. Wasted talent would be if he was a gifted fighter who was too lazy or scared to try at all.
Till fought st the highest level for years. I'd be proud.
He was an undeveloped talent. He never fixed his defensive flaws, and never improved as a fighter, even where he was good. He chose to rely on what got him to the title, even if it hindered his growth. If you refuse to develop your talent, than your talent is wasted.
He didn't improve over the years that was his problem
Well said
Out of however many billions of people on the planet, this guy made it to the top of the heap in the hardest sport.. where should his incredible talent land him if not there?
Imo he was never That big of a WW. Man should’ve hired a good nutritionist and stayed at 170.
Or bulked up more at 185. Big enough frame for sure
Found your channel while trying to get past the boredom of a weekend without UFC. Good work you got dude. Keep it up
There is something deep down afflicting Till, I’m sure a lot of us can relate to. On the verge of success any setback is enough to trigger our self sabotage. It’s tough, as a man the only way is to Win. It’s not too late. All Darren really needs is a few wins. But that will come down to mindset and coaching. Right now it’s hard to see anything motivating him besides just running out of money. But maybe there’s a comeback story to still be written. I’d love to see it
I think hes done sadly man, hes now in his 30’s and still wont get his knees fixed. Its as if hes tried to fill his time with other business ventures to mask his feelings and life lately. He has such a good striking base, but has no motivation to tighten up everywhere else. Dricus should’ve been an easy fight and its almost as if he self sabotaged himself. Hopefully he finds some sort of happiness in what ever he does
@@GrandmasterHashya he just can’t seem to get into the right frame of mind, kind of like Conor. I have no confidence in either, but man I wish I did.
yeah the lack of intelligence
Ya drug trafficking with the Kinehans softened him up big time
Yeah he's afflicted with a disease called Overrateditus
It’s crazy how Darren genuinely seemed to get worse over the years
It's sad
@@jabed6756him surviving that first round against ddp impressed me. Not what you want to display but he hung in there.
so hard to witness this downfall, he seems depressed in a way, sometimes people are hidding sadness behind a smiling face, losing confidence is way harder to rebuilt than a fat physique, and to more he will be down the harder it ll be to rebuilt.
But I really hope he will be back, as you said he s still young
Young lad with old man injuries, 30 and his knees are gone
The way he got knocked out by Masvidal and his head hit the floor…
That’s really what ruined him, woodley put him in the coffin and masvidal nailed it shut
Yea that was brutal. You could hear his acl blow out too if you listen carefully.
It is one of the most brutal KO’s in ufc history ngl
@@MSHCentral It showed in the next fight against Gastelum, he was visibly gun-shy. Didn't help that Gastelum got his bell rang too many times in the 5th round with Izzy either, making for an awful fight.
The fight between Wonderboy was a staring contest more so than anything else. Darren use to have confidence and aggression, but after losses; some even ko's, bad weight cuts, injuries and a lack of wrestling he just descended the ladder. He also had his chin straight up in the air he needed better boxing fundamentals regarding, defense, footwork and better hands in general. Then again, Darren needed help with everything again confidence, diet, training, gameplan and building a all-around better fighter.
only thing worse than that fight was his post fight screaming like he did something amazing.
That Darren till speech after Wonderboy is way overrated, just him screaming into a mic , where’s the charisma, the cleverness in it. Considering he missed weight that fight too
I tore me acl mate
he sounded desperate, like he didn't really believe in himself
Darren was pushed forward too fast for sure. His offensive game was excellent, however he has the same problem as Paddy Pimblett: complete lack of standup defense and questionable takedown defense. Your defense has to match your offense to survive in the UFC.
The UFC have an obsession of replicating a Jon Jones/Conor type career. They push young stars WAY too fast. Eventually MMA guys will learn like boxers that you need to progress slowly.
These new fighters also don't have the level of dedication to the sport as Early McGregor or Jones. They get a small taste of fame and they immediately become party guys. The difference between old McGregor and other greats, even someone like Floyd Mayweather well into old age, they NEVER took off training. Jones may be the only exception to that lol.
@@james3003 agree any up and coming fighters get a taste of fame and it's goes to their head. When they lose, that hype train crashes hard and that in turn changes them mentally as well
@@Ryan-jc7qh Mcgregor was famous for his personality and for being very good at the beginning. he beat a lot of really good fighters. Jones has demolished everyone in his path, whether he used something intentionally or not, he would have kicked everyones ass either way, his game was never about strength.
It's kind crazy how many many times they've thrown talented young guys into the deep end and let them drown lately. Sage Northcutt, Johnny Walker, Chase Hooper, Raul Rosas, etc. Even if some of them end up coming back and having decent careers, they still ended up taking a ton of damage early on that they really shouldn't have.
@@BrandonHeat243 I won’t forgive them for what they did to Edmen Shahbazyan. The Brunson fight destroyed his career, sapped his confidence.
I never thought that highly of tills skillset & never understood why people thought he was the next big thing even before his first L,the wonderboy & whittaker fights show that he had some potential but he fights with his chin up,he was always somewhat predictable,low output,& he gives large telegraphs on his feints & strikes that make his entries easy to read, his best weapons were his distance management and timing he has solid tools but isn’t good at putting everything together
If you really wanna act like Darren till didn't have potential too be great your delusional. The guy who made this video was making the point Darren never reached his prime/peak for whatever reason. At 170lbs he had the khabib effect meaning bye fight Till was rehydrating too 200lbs+ his striking and timing were elite as you mentioned his management of space elite. His defense was certainly sub par his distance management helped cover some of that up. Now it's his ground game that was just sub par at best and Woodly showed just how sub par it was. But if he would've grinded and trained like he wanted to be the man and continued to fight at 170 he at some point would've held that belt. He was only 25 when Woodly best him still so young but for whatever reason these things never came too fruition. Saying he never lived up too his potential absolutely fair enough. too say I never say what made him so special 🤥 come on now.
@@justicehall5269 maybe learn some reading comprehension skills before crying,all you did was reword my statement & lie about what i said so you can disagree because if you knew how to read i literally said “he had some potential”my point was that i never seen him being elite because despite having the tools he wasn’t able to put everything together you literally just agreed with me but pretended to disagree so you can cry 🧂 till fanboy detected 😂
Really thought dude was gonna be good for a while..
Exactly, and It goes to outline the wrongs you can do to yourself/your dream and how far you can fall by not enough humility In yourself to admit defeat and loss, get out of your own way, and letting your ego consume you.
Fighters like Cody Garbrandt, Dominick Reyes, and Darren Till are the best examples of that.
Cody after he beat Dom Cruz (Who In my opinion Is the GOAT of the Bantamweight division) thought of himself as this untouchable savant In In the octagon who's right hand never failed him or "his IQ as he states It" (whatever the fuck that means), disrespecting and flipping the bird to his fellow "brothers" from team Alpha male In TJ Pillashaw, and the proceeded to those 2 straight fights against the man and has never been the same since.
Yes TJ was juiced, but Cody's low IQ, Inability to adapt, and lack of a winners mentality was equally enough the reason why he lost those two fights and has been on the deep end since.
(There's quite literally an entire YT compilation video of Cody getting dropped with left hands from fighters Including TJ himself, and It's even better seen In the rematch as soon as Cody tries to finish TJ he goes In and gets counter-attacked by a right hand that TJ had threw not once, not twice, but three times and then proceeds to get finished off again)
This Is ultimately the reason why former fighters and legends like DC Cormier are to be respected, he was never one of the LHWs In the division that didn't just lay down and lose to Jon Jones.
That man (especially In the rematch) took the fight to Jon, bell to bell, round to round, and kept to his words of "I'm going to be coming at you every second, trying to rip your head off" and even though Jon was probably up on the score cards In their rematch, you can tell DC made the adjustments necessary to try and adjust properly, every punch he threw was with ill Intent (And as I watched myself, I saw It).
Now obviously DC lost and got finished (And he even he admits he never beat Jon), but that's the KEY TO IT. He has enough humility within himself (Unlike some of his dickhead fans that want to make excuses for him losing, because Jon was on PED's), to say he never beat Jon and to go as far to say Jon was better than the previous legends he'd fought, Including him. (There's an entire documentary on It on ESPN)
This can be equated to Jon Jones being the GOAT (and I can agree, being a Jon fan), but this equally explains why DC Is a legend and to be respected.
Losing to Jon never took away anything away from his legacy, and In admitting he never beat Jon and admiring his talent and saying Jon could've beaten him regardless of PED's Is what puts DC on of my top 15 all greats MMA list.
But hey that's just my 2 cents on the matter, take care ya'll.
When you're on a roll like Darren was, everyone telling you that you were the next big thing, and then you get beat the way he was beat by Woodley and Masvidal it does things to you psychologically. Darren's confidence was utterly shattered, the image that he had of himself due to everything he was told was suddenly no longer true. Sadly, he wasn't ever able to get his mojo back and put himself back together
He got a hell of a lot further than most people.... got his name out there.... he's still a star and I hope he's successful in whatever he chooses to do
As a British mma fan watching Darren’s rise and fall is so hard. I don’t know what the plan is now he’s no longer with the ufc but I hope it’s only temporary
If he had a good plan we would have heard something till now
You should be an Edwards fan. Someone who can actually fight. Or maybe he's too boring for you or perhaps the wrong colour. Bet you love that can Paddy tho.
@@JaemanEdwardsThe first one to bring race into it is always the racist
@fudgepacker Leon is the best in his division, not one of the best. The disrespect.
Anyway, I'm here for the fighting, not the personality. Not all of us are shallow, media influenced sheep. I actually prefer the humble, measured, down to earth personality of Leon Edwards, to the cocky publicity sluts like Connor, Paddy, and Till.
@@brendanking6110 I'm not black or white. These are the two ethnicities that seem to always have a problem with race.
12:43 This is where I feel Brian Ortega is at actually, because he did an interview where he actually equated him having those submisions on Volkanovski as being on that level, never mind the fact that not only did they fail but he got the crap beat out of him prior to and after that.
I didn’t hear him say that but very interesting.
@LucasTFitness he also said that guys like Topuria need more wins before he fights him yet Ortega hasn't won a fight in nearly 3 years over a semi retired Zombie
Unfortunately that means Ortega will stagnate, won't get any better and will most likely continue to lose.
You're on point mate. I honestly think his biggest strength was his biggest weakness. He had a beautiful 1-2. That left hand was beautiful powerful and accurate. But he kinda kept spamming the 1-2 and not setting up the left straight. Became Predictable. Exactly what Whittaker said.
Expectation vs reality. I think he just was not good enough plus the lifestyle and body breaking down.
Facts, he was always ass they tried to say he was the new man against cowboy, someone who is equally trash
Yeah not everybody is meant to be a champ.
I always felt he was overrated, for someone from a Muay Thai background he uses very little kicks knees and rarely used his lead hand, pretty phone dimensional a left cross and left elbow is all he seems to use
he'd be pretty good if he worked on his wrestling, footwork, head movement, jujitsu, diet, kicking, feints, cage iq, and basic escapes from bottom imo
Muay Thai make him stiff af
Till got humbled and sadly he lost too much confidence and went to the only thing he knew for a fact he could trust (left hand straight down the pipe) and I feel the fear of losing and wasting all the grind he put in to get to a fight kept piling up on him and it ended up breaking him. I hope he sees a sports psychologist to learn how to have a champions mindset and works on wrestling defence and because even if he’s terrible at it a shot feint can be a big set up for his left hand rather than just using wrestling defence.
If Darren was able to remove that mental block he got from getting knocked out and was aggressive in his fights he’d have been great
That was my comment too. It’s tough as a man, it’s either win, or be seen as failure. That pressure gets to us all
He just doesn't have the tools to be the best
Another great video, Super work, Really enjoy these 😁
I personally think that Till may have just been a product of the UFC hype machine. His biggest win was against Wonderboy and that fight was given Sherdog's 2018 robbery of the year award. Since then he's gone 1-5.
And that one win was by a hair too. Gastelum was furious about the decision and rounds 1 and 3 easily could have gone to him.
Darren Till, Cody Garbrant, Sage Northcutt, all examples of guys that were picked by the UFC as the next big thing. Because of that, they were rushed up the ladder and didn’t have time to develop. MMA as a whole, but particularly the UFC, has a problem with developing young prospects. The second you show potential, you get thrown to the wolves so they can milk as much money out of you as they can. Which occasionally works out (Garbrant vs Cruz) but usually doesn’t in the long run.
I hope Darren watches this and it motivates him to prove everybody wrong
I have massive respect for anyone in MMA let alone UFC - he was an elite athlete that is now pivoting to fight promotion. He's writing his next chapter. "No statue was ever erected to a critic"
There's a statue of Roger Ebert in Illinois
@@jsmith839 😄 high bar
@@jsmith839 lol
More like no statue will ever be erected for Darren Till.
I don't think it was wasted talent, it was more of "just not good enough", better fighters out there with better all round skill.
Damn that loss to Driccus is looking a lot better now tho
This video is really reflective of my own life and career failings. So much potential wasted with laziness and excuses.
Strange how the brutal and simple nature of MMA teaches you about life.
Need to put my nose to the grindstone like Darren had to.
I feel for Till. Ive been a fan since he stepped into the UFC, I think you can draw a lot of comparison between him and Northcutt. Lots of potential in both of them, but Till really had something going for him and he fought like a killer, not like it was a sport/pointfighting. I think the UFC pushed him to hard too fast- regardless of if it came down to his talent or charisma- they forced him to bite off more than he could chew as a young athlete. He wasnt even close to his prime by the time they gave him woodley- and on the flip side he was knocking vets out and dancing with thompson. I miss seeing him fight, and I wish his career didnt take this turn because he couldve been massive. Man to man, i hope he can get back to the peak if he wants to. He was lifting up a lot of other fighters around him and people dont really know that side of him, hes a genuine dude whos been through a lot but also met some real success in life. Nothing but the best for you Till, i really wish nothing but the best for you and your young family.
Till had 10x the skill Sage did. I get the comparison of two very young potential stars, being pushed to the top. But Till was actually competing against the best in the world and that can’t be said about Sage.
I would argue that at least Darren tried. I think Zabit Magomedsharipov is the biggest waste of talent in UFC history, he gave us a taste of his greatness and bounced without a true test.
Well Zabit retired due to health issues where as Darren just ceased progressing as a fighter and didn’t grow into what were thought good potential was. Hard for me to say he tried when he never changed or addressed his weaknesses
You're right about that. Darren Till didn't waste any potential, he was just overrated.
The exaggeration of Till ceiling is insane lol dude had like one or two solid weapons and thats it
lol yeah, "biggest waste of talent" please...
Darren 'i tore me acl mate' till
I will always follow Darren's career and will wish the best for him as I like him as a person, but what an awful shame his UFC turned out to be. Shot at 30 and to see that confidence in himself and his actual ability slowly fade is Madness. Great video
If they had built him up slowly I think he would have had a better UFC career but the UFC were just trying anything to get rid of Woodley 😅 I was shocked that Till didn't see that D'arce coming in today fight. Made me wonder wtf he did with his time in Brazil.
Looks like you won't have to follow any longer 😅
UFC rushed him. Darren said himself in early interviews, he didn't want the fast track to a title, he wanted to fight his way through the ranks and earn it, but that went out the window after the cowboy win. He still needed to adjust his style to MMA in my view. and he needed more confidence with the wrestling defense against the top guys but just didn't have the experience i think that cause him to kick less and be less aggressive. And yes he was one dimensional in there and once he was better known people were able to game plan him really well.
Turns out Leon Edwards despite getting disrespected and passed over for a title shot for years, ended up doing it the right way by slowing making his way up the rankings and beating everyone put in front of him. Although he only got the shot because Usman had pretty much beaten everyone, he made it count just when it looked as though it was going to be all for nothing.
What’s with the random kid in the frame for a millisecond at 7:57
Honestly, things would have been different had he faught a Strickland instead of a DDP..
You think he would've won ?
Diamond Dallas Page vs Darren Till
He still would have lost
you think so?
He's 2-5 out of his last 7. But the kelvin and Thompson fights were super close, i thought he lost both. So his last CLEAR win, in my opinion, was against cerrone which also means i don't think his beaten a single elite fighter 😂
Agreed 100% and cerrone was a blown up LW and Till a shrunken MW- so a total mismatch was his highlight UFC win ?
Kelvin Gastelum was a clean and clear Till win imo. I think he lost the WB fight tho.
Till never had an unbeatable aura, and he's not wasted talent at all. He was never great. He's a solid fighter that could have had a great career as a ranked gatekeeper at welterweight, but he koved to middleweight because he's lazy
I never bought into the Darren Till hype, I didn’t think he was trash he just wasn’t elite level when they pushed him to the elite level and once he was there he seemed to stop evolving. I think taking a step back and tightening up his game he could still see success
No. He has skill deficiencies that can't be addressed. He's over.
what i think is this channel is goated! i love your content bro, you've got such high energy and it's awesome
Hopefully paddy learns from Darrens troubles getting super big when hes not fighting
Paddy is done. He just hasn’t realised it yet
Darren is a lovely personality. He’s got great fans . Shame he couldn’t of gone further .
Wish Darren was still around and actually healthy. Hopefully the time off will allow him to work out the injuries
he'd be pretty good if he worked on his wrestling, footwork, head movement, jujitsu, diet, kicking, feints, cage iq, and basic escapes from bottom imo
@@TaterTotsNFanta basically, learn to fight
He should just go to bellator
I’m from Liverpool and honestly, there’s a lot of lads like Till in the city, focused on the wrong thing. But can’t deny everything that could’ve went wrong for Till did, even if he is his own worst enemy.
Dudes a physical specimen. All of his problems are psychological. Since his MMA career is basically over, maybe he can go be a father to his child in Brazil he abandoned.
The most obvious answer is he just wasn't as good as people somehow thought he was. Let's remember: he went from close fights against Nicolas Dalby and Bojan Velickovic to being a title contender just by beating Cowboy Cerrone. Cowboy wasn't just a good stylistic matchup for Darren but the UFC managed to convince us that beating him at WW meant you're elite. He then fought Wonderboy - another favorable stylistic matchup - to a split decision and got whooped by Woodley - who was not a good matchup for Darren. Afterwards his loss to Masvidal - a mid-level journeyman - allowed the UFC to conduct their next scheme: convince everyone that beating Darrent Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz made Jorge a legitimate WW title contender.
His fights against Gastelum and Whittaker were probably his best performances. Both didn't really wrestle him which helped his gameplan and made him look like a legit top 5-10 MW. Him getting easily outgrappled by Brunson and Dricus though just showed again how limited his game is. It's not like he got worse. He just got exposed and didn't improve.
You can’t call it a downfall if he was never on top.. the moment he fought the top competition he got exposed.. that wonderboy fight is also controversial
Fighting for a UFC title would be considered the top for a MMA fighter…
The scorecards were 2-2 going into the 5th and Till got the knock down, and have Wonderboy shooting for takedowns. He won the fight.
He never evolved his game, his karate in and out style got him to a certain point but thats it. His health issues and commitment really brought him down, honestly didn't evolve enough to get to that next level.
Really a shame! Everybody loves him! Too bad his demons got the better of him. Hope he gets it back. The Wolf should have stood by him. Devastated him
I remember when him and Mike Perry would have their little beef. Perry seemed like he was going on a downward spiral while Till was getting all the glory in the UFC. It’s just so funny how life turns out. Perry was able to find his footing in bare knuckle and now Till is nowhere to be seen.
They pushed till too fast , everybody hyped him so much after the cowboy KO , and after twood beat ‘em he was never the same , real sad shit .
Honestly if the judges gave Thompson the fight, that would've forsure helped him. He lost but didn't get finished and just show he's on that level and continue to improve
The Wonderboy fight and later the Whittaker fight gave him false confidence. He assumed because they were close decisions, that he was on their level. Completely ignoring the fact that styles make fights and just because he 'beat' WB and had a competitive fight with Rob, doesn't mean he's gonna roll over everyone below them. Darren found out the hard way that styles make fights, but even he's too delusional to accept it. He blames it on outside factors and doesn't improve.
I always felt Darren till was a tweener, not 170 but definitely not middleweight
This man is coming for MMA gurus throat with this rise to be #1 channel for MMA
The guy might be struggling with some mental health issue such as ADHD which makes it really hard to focus on anything.
Yeah, the partying might have had an impact in his downfall yet heavy partying sometimes is part of an attempt at "self-medicating"/ dealing with the anxiety or frustration produced by not being able to concentrate and improve his fight I. Q.
I don't know : just trying to show some compassion here. I don't know if being too judgmental would be of any help.
Peace.
Great video man def subscribed I love finding channels like yours that really show love to fighters. Keep up the good work🤙
Really like how you pointed out the change in physique. I thought the same thing, he's going up in weight yet he's looking smaller. Right then I knew something wasn't going right in his off season training, maybe the lesser weightcut got him lazy idk. But nobody seemed to talk about it then so it's nice seeing it mentioned here.
Drugs and alcohol.....he got arrested few times thieving...
He got smaller as he went up in weight bc just like the video said-if you're not doing a type of training while putting on the weight or bulking up you just look smaller and fatter,you have to train as you're gaining weight so your body recomps into a more muscular,more fit version and you're using those extra cals.Also if you're gonna drink it should be very little when training bc alcohol messes with recovery l.
i agree, when he went up, he built NO muscle, he was basically his 170 frame but with more FAT, he was fighting 185 guys as 170er.... Imagine if he actually but on a load of muscle and improve his strategy. He had an incredible mua thai record too before the ufc, why did he never use leg kicks?!?
I think till is the perfect example of a guy who always makes excuses for his failures instead of being accountable
Something I don’t see getting mentioned much anymore is how Till’s star power and hype train came about in a post-McGregor era. All the comments and tweets about Till were literally comparing him to Conor due to their left hand, counter-striking and fighting stance.
Damn this is really well put together, well done Lucas
The fact he is fluent Portuguese inspires me.
One thing you've missed is that he took a knee injury in the Whittaker fight that never really healed. Still plaguing him to this day. He left the UFC presumably to take some disallowed substances to actually heal it like Conor did.
No doubt. Those repetitive knee injuries curtailed his progress and surely affected his training. He might be a different fighter when he's juiced, more muscular and healed.
He wasn't wasted potential or wasted talent... He just wasn't as good as the promotion said he was. That's all it comes down to. Who would have known that a left hand and zero takedown defence won't carry you to a UFC title? /s
This is a good video overall, good job, I watched the whole thing and was entertained throughout. I do think though that at times you undermined how difficult it is to compete in MMA at the highest level. The partying and everything is true, he lost focus, same happened to Conor, but they are both still world class fighters. Brunson was on a streak when he beat Till, Du Plessis is about to fight for the belt. the people that he’s lost to are exceptional fighters as well. People for some reason think fighting is simple or it’s easy but these guys are the absolute best in the world at what they do. The best Golfers in the world don’t win or even place in every tournament. The best basketball/football player don’t always put up the best numbers. MMA is so unforgiving, you make one mistake, in the fight or in training camp and it can cost you in a devastating way. Losses in MMA are much harder to come back from than most other things too because of not only the mental effect it has but the physical impact.
Great video though overall, for real! All love, no hate
Completely agree.
Till was a weight bully like Adrien Broner. He was fighting small dudes, and guys in the twilights of their careers, in a weight class he struggled mightily to make. He’s 30 years old, he’s not making a comeback, he’s done. He’s been done for about half a decade now. I’m sure Till has talent but he’s not elite, save for his performance against Wonderboy.
Lucas Tracy watching MMA Guru in a dark room with sunglasses on like Tony Ferguson
MMA content creators breath*
Guru fanboys: “Guru invented breathing!”
@@regardlesslamron2096 Exactly. Like look at the quality of this video.
And compare that with the childish rambling we have to endure from that tub of lard who thinks his ugly mug should always be on camera.
@@regardlesslamron2096 😂😂😂😂😂
Well done SUBBED.
He had a top 5 ceiling. His lack of wrestling was always going to be an issue. He beat a declining legend and we were all in awe. His path to victory was always his left hand. If he was American born, he would’ve been just another guy. Luckily for the UFC, Leon emerged and they got their British champ.
Leon isnt British 😢
Your video hit the great point that Darren was never really that disciplined in the first place, certain fights would motivate him more and since he was also younger all that ending and drinking could be "shaved off". With his move to MW and him getting older towards the end of his run it seemed his discipline caught up with him
It's because of that horrible arm tattoo
Lol
This is what makes the fight game (boxing included), the most compelling of all sports. Every fighter is an individual entity, there is no team to hang a loss on. Fighters are the most emotionally accessible athletes in the world because we see them laid bare in front of us in legalized combat. Some guys like Masvidal can simply let losses roll off their back and continue slogging forward. Others, like Till, immediately lose their confidence completely, and nothing is more devastating to an athlete is a lack of confidence.
was he really that talented? he was just a weight bully with one punch
Agreed, although anyone who makes a fight with Robert Whittaker close is talented imo. I know it wasnt the best version of Robert but still.
Same with Conor and Paddy Pimblett. UK hype up their fighters so much it’s to their detriment. Like Anthony Joshua in boxing.
@@701delbronx8 Conor was excellent though. Legitimately. That Eddie Alvarez performance is timeless.
I like turtles
Very high quality documentaries but unlike the top channels (Mixed Martial Academic, Crunched Teeth, Patrick Gavia) some personal opinions make the doc disingenuous. I am in no way a Till fan and have thought he was overrated ever since I found MMA in 2019 but I can admit that the build up to Brunson was quite even (classic wrestler v striker odds and matchup) NOT a "Till should win" buildup besides his old diehard fanbase that always talked "future Champ" nonsense. Also, Darren was very upfront about his shortcomings. Honesty isn't "excuses" and he always admitted his shortcomings in grappling and his knee ended up being an actual serious issue. Most overrated guy in recent memory but the way ppl including you started saying he's too small for MW when he was just a shitty grappler with no conditioning is just absolute disingenuousness.
You gotta feel bad for the guy :(
Not at all . Wish it was worse
I think the one thing is if he switched up the style, and learned to grapple defensively and stayed disciplined he would be one of the best right now, he has to choose discipline or pleasure and grind in the dark
i think he was an alcoholic.
Just a part time semi casual weekend only amphetamine addiction
Arguably the best video you’ve uploaded yet.
Till always hated the social media celebrity culture but ended up becoming a bit of a parody of it himself. He may have been plagued with injuries but you got the sense that he ate crap and did nothing for recovery even if he was putting work in the gym. He's looked flabby and out of shape for a good few years now. It now appears he's already given up and not attempting to fight MMA again. I don't fancy his chance in boxing either as he's still very much a muay thai guy. Very sad. I still remain a fan and hope he turns it around.
Good. Video. Like. The humour in ur video
brilliant video, great work
Man, I love this style of video
great video
Great Documentary guys !
14:02 Literally Paddy Pimblett. Darren Till & Kamaru Usman are both 6ft, but look at how jacked Kamaru at 170.
16:13 This is Paddy Pimblett getting submitted if he somehow fight Charles Olivera or Islam Makhachev.
And even if Islam Makachev retire, Usman Nurmagomedov will come out from Bellator & KO Paddy Pimblett.