Darren Till has just been involved in a social knockout brawl after his opponent was unable to continue the match… #Mixed Martial Arts
#boxing pic.twitter.com/cyVxq71p7h
— Mase (@cutman_mase)
July 6, 2024
Darren Till’s boxing debut brought him his first fighting payday since leaving the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but it wasn’t a particularly lucrative one.
Till left UFC at his own request in February 2023 to pursue other interests, vowing to return to the promotion in a few years’ time. “The Gorilla” was scheduled to make his boxing debut against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson on July 20, but the bout never happened due to Till’s visa issues and the card was briefly in jeopardy before Mike Perry stepped in to replace an ill Tyson.
Instead, Till made his surprise ring debut against Mohamed Moutier at Social Knockout 3 in Dubai on Saturday, winning by Till via TKO in the second round after the latter refused to continue due to a punch to the back of the head, and a brawl broke out between the two fighters after the decision was announced.
Till revealed on “The MMA Hour” that the boxing payday was his biggest since his last UFC payday, which he received for a submission loss to Dorricus du Plessis in December 2022. However, Till hinted that it wasn’t a huge payday after all.
“It was fine. You know, I buy the kids clothes and stuff like that. I buy some for myself too. I don’t know what I’d buy with it, but Five Guys or something. It’s fine. A little bit of money. It’s the best money I’ve had in 18 months, I struggled. Without the block assets, man would have struggled, man would have drowned.”
Till’s opponent, Muty, rolled on the floor in pain before suddenly rising and charging at the Brit, who grabbed a single leg and took Till down in the confusion as his team and security intervened, resulting in pandemonium.
Till quickly admitted to hitting his opponent in the back of the head, but the former UFC star believes his opponent was already looking for a way out and found the perfect excuse.
“It was 100 percent… I think in the second round, I landed a jab,” Till said. “I could see him with his whole face at me and I think he was like, ‘Oh man, I need an escape route now,’ and that was obviously his escape route.”
Till also claims that event organisers and attendees were disgusted by Muti’s behaviour.
“The promoter, Tam Khan, was shouting at the guy. [it was] “It’s disgraceful,” Till said. “A lot of the Dubai police who work with my new promotion, Gorilla Promotions, were there too. They were just disgusted by this guy’s behaviour.”
For Till, the good thing about this fiasco is the attention it garnered overnight.
“But the guy probably did us a favour,” he said, “because look how widespread it got. The whole world is talking about it, so that’s a good thing. Not a bad thing. Darren Till is always involved in some bad thing.”
