Darren Till: I’ll knock Mike Perry straight out, ‘fake’ Colby Covington is nowhere near my striking level

Darren Till has been stealing headlines since knocking out Donald Cerrone at UFC Fight Night 118 a few weeks ago, ending “Cowboy’s” night in the very first round in Gdansk, Poland.

The win was “The Gorilla’s” sixteenth in a row, remaining undefeated (16-0-1, 4-0-1 UFC) in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career, putting the rest of the already-stacked division on notice.

With plenty of 170-pound fighters quickly climbing the ranks, including Kamaru Usman, Mike Perry and Colby Covington, as well as Santiago Ponzinibbio, Till enters the division spotlight at time where the competition is as fierce as ever.

And let’s not forget the upper-level fighters, including division king Tyron Woodley, Stephen Thompson and Jorge Masvidal. Still, despite all the talent currently residing at 170 pounds, Till says no one is on his level when it comes to the striking department, especially Covington and Perry.

“Colby has got good wrestling, he’s a good wrestler. But in the striking department, don’t even think about it, you’re not in my realm,” proclaimed Till on a recent edition of The MMA Hour.

According to Till, you simply have to look at Covington’s most recent win over Demian Maia at UFC Fight Night 119, where Till says “Chaos” was outclassed in the striking department by a submission expert (see it again here).

“You just got out-struck by Demian Maia, no disrespect to Maia, but there are levels. I’m not on Mike Perry’s level, I’m not on anyone’s level. I am the best striker in the welterweight division,” he added. “There is no doubt about it. They come in thinking they can strike with me. They fall into this false sense of security. The striking department is my department and no one can deal with me there.”

Furthermore, Till isn’t a big fan of Colby’s antics, saying he simply can’t pull off the bad guy look with authenticity.

“I think Colby is trying to be this bad guy trash talker, but it’s coming off as not genuine. He’s forcing it and fake. He’s trying too hard. Be genuine and people will like you. Not a lot of people like him because he’s coming off as fake. Be real, be genuine and people will like you,” added Till.

After his win over Cerrone, Till got into a shouting match with Mike Perry, who was Octagon-side in Poland. While that would be a good fight to make in the future, Perry is currently booked to face Ponzinibbio at UFC on FOX 26. Still, when the time comes, Till says “Platinum” will suffer the same fate as “Cowboy.”

“Perry can hit hard, it doesn’t mean anything, I can take a fucking shot but he won’t catch me. I will just jab him up everywhere and knock him straight out.”

For the record, Darren did give props where they are due, saying Stephen Thompson and Tyron Woodley are without a doubt his biggest threats in the division.

As for what’s next for Till, he’s currently hanging out in New York, gobbling up as much food as he can before he gets back into training. And he’ll just sit back to see how the rest of the upcoming 170-pound matches (like this one and this one) unfold for the remainder of the year to find his next dance partner.

Any suggestions as to who he should face next?