Defiant Darren Till responds to ‘online trolls’ offended by parenting snub: ‘I have to be selfish’

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has given top welterweight contender, Darren Till, an opportunity that most mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters won’t get and if they do, may only get once in their careers.

I’m talking, of course, about a division title shot.

Till gets to battle reigning welterweight kingpin Tyron Woodley in the UFC 228 pay-per-view (PPV) main event next month inside American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas, and insists he can’t be training like a championship-caliber athlete if he’s home changing diapers and folding laundry.

“It’s all about being selfish now until the eighth of September,” Till the Obviously Fight Talk podcast. “It’s funny, I haven’t even really read what people are saying but my girlfriend is sitting next to me right now, laughing. It comes to sort of right to stuff like that when my girlfriend is laughing and it’s offending grown men and grown women. That’s just funny shit. It doesn’t affect them.”

Till came under fire for openly ignoring his family during fight camp (read his comments here), which is probably more common in combat sports than most fans would care to believe, but don’t expect “The Gorilla” to be making any apologies at the next press conference.

“In five week’s time, all my life’s work will have led up to that one moment. 15 years in the making,” he said. “I couldn’t have got here without being selfish. I’m working so hard and I’ve had bumps in the road and there were many days where I didn’t - there were some days I couldn’t eat - because I just gave me whole life to this fight and now it’s paying off. People just don’t understand how it works, high level fighting. They look for any opportunity to be offended. It’s just online trolls who just haven’t got a clue.”

Take that, “toxic UFC fans.”