Liverpool knockout artist, Darren Till, will square off with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight kingpin, Tyron Woodley, this Saturday (Sept. 8, 2018) at UFC 228 inside American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
It’s certainly been an odd road to the title for “The Gorilla.” That’s not to disparage the undefeated 25-year-old talent, but his title shot emerged seemingly out of thin air on the strength of his two most recent wins. One, a first-round shellacking of Donald Cerrone, was awesome in every way. The other? A rather debatable decision victory over Stephen Thompson.
Oh, and Till missed weight by four pounds.
What does all that mean in this match up? Very little. The biggest concern here is not whether or not Till is the most deserving man for the title shot. Instead, the issue we’re facing is that Till has never faced even a half-decent wrestler, but he’s about to step into the cage with an All-American powerhouse.
This fight will answer a lot of questions about the Scouser, but let’s take a closer look at what we do know.
Striking
An amateur and professional Muay Thai fighter in England as a teenager, Till sometimes showcases that background, but in the cage he often looks like a Karate athlete. Case in point, he fought Stephen Thompson last time out — UFC’s Karate Kid — and they often mirrored each other.
Earlier in his UFC career, Till looked like a lanky striker. In his previous two bouts, however, it’s clear that Till has grown into his frame, looking far more built and powerful. Thompson generally avoided exchanges with the Englishman, but Cerrone was unable to ... and he paid the price.
The most obvious thing about Till’s fights are his excellent distance management. Early on, Till will advance with his hands high, mostly focused on getting a read. He’ll feint, shoot out some kicks, and jab at the hands a bit, but he’ll commonly back away from exchanges until he has a solid grasp on his opponent’s approach and style.
Once Till is comfortable, he’ll begin playing with that distance. For example, Till commonly leans his head forward, which gives his opponents the impression that Till is within punching distance. When they find out he isn’t, a quick pull back and left cross down the middle is often there to great his advancing foe. Between long kicks and that step back cross, Till routinely traps his opponent on the outside and leaves him hesitant to push forward.
Between pitching a sharp cross from a strong angle and pulling to throw it as a counter, Till routinely finds a home for his left hand. Till also does a nice job of mixing his right jab into his offense, alternating between tossing out a jab to the gloves and firing one down the middle. He’ll then switch to a hand trap into a cross, a great way to land the strike (GIF).
Opposite Cerrone, Till did an amazing job of mixing up the angle on his left hand. After landing it straight down the middle, Till began to loop his left around the guard, fire it in something of a shovel hook, or throw a more standard uppercut. Despite the fact that most of his combinations were jab-left hand or feint-left hand, Cerrone had an insanely difficult time defending because of how the left continued to sneak in from different angles (GIF).
Till also makes great use of the classic Southpaw double threat: The left hand and left kick. Till’s cross is crisp and his kicks heavy, so both strikes must be respected.
While the two strikes play off each other brilliantly, Till takes it further than that. Aside from simply feinting one to set up the other, Till will feint his left hand or kick in order to take a small step towards his opponent. Suddenly, that extra few inches that caused his opponent to miss is now erased, while Till has a clear path to punch a foe potentially frozen from a feint.
In Till’s previous three victories, he’s done great damage after trapping his opponent along the fence. Given Woodley’s longstanding habit of placing himself there, there’s reason to believe Till troubles Woodley greatly on the feet.
Aside from the left kick at range, Till showed some hard stomp kicks opposite Thompson, injuring his foe’s lead leg. As of late, the side kick or stomp kick to the lead knee has proven an effective way to limit a Karate fighter’s mobility — that’s a trend Till definitely deserves some credit for helping to prove (GIF). In addition, that sideways hopping motion can easily be converted into a step into a punch rather than low kick.
One part of Till’s game that is distinctly Muay Thai is his use of elbows. While stalking his opponent, Till commonly reaches out and hand-fights. Pulling down on his foe’s hand, Till will fold over his arm into an elbow strike. Against Velickovic, Till also controlled his foe’s lead hand then stepped in with a massive left elbow (GIF).
If there is a weakness to Till’s stance and offense, he rarely seems to be in position to check low kicks. Both Velickovic and Cerrone landed a few decent ones, but Till still does a reasonably good job of either pulling his lead leg back or stepping forward into the kick with a cross. Plus, his defense does rely almost entirely on his distance management. If he misreads an attack or his opponent is able to subtly close range before attacking, there’s not much to protect Till’s jawline.
Wrestling
Till’s defensive wrestling is still very much a mystery. For the most part, Till’s range control, footwork and sound defensive wrestling have been more than enough to stop the shot, but he’s never faced anyone remotely near the caliber of a Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington or Tyron Woodley.
Could Till continue to use good fundamentals and make it work? Certainly. However, anyone who has followed this sport for more than a couple years can name a dozen examples of a great striker looking helpless in their first bout against a true grinding wrestler.
Offensively, Till has looked for his own takedowns a couple of times. Opposite Wendell Oliveira, for example, Till showed how great striking defense and wrestling tie in together. Oliveira was swinging wildly and trying to catch the taller man with a looping shot, so Till adjusted by remaining planted and looking to slip. He repeatedly caught Oliveira with underhooks and ultimately took top position when Oliveira attempted desperate throws.
In a more proactive example, Till used an overhook and hand control opposite Jessin Ayari to show his Muay Thai experience. He waited for Ayari to throw a knee and then easily swept the remaining foot, taking top position without expending a bit of energy (GIF).
Lastly, Till’s violent elbows opposite Oliveira deserve a mention. His debut is also his only knockout win inside UFC prior to the “Cowboy” KO, but it landed in style. From half guard, Till allowed his opponent to control his wrist and used that opportunity to fold over an elbow directly into the chin. It landed perfectly, and a follow up elbow or two sealed the deal (GIF).
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
It’s hard to get a full read on Till’s game. In UFC, he’s only been put on his back by Dalby in a third round where he was fatigued and injured. On the regional scene, he showed a willingness to hunt for submissions from his back, but he was also fighting pretty mediocre competition at the time. Toe hold and inverted triangle submission wins are certainly cool, but it’s hard to tell much from them until he actually grapples with top competition.
Again, it’s a huge question mark leading into his fight.
Conclusion
This fight is vaguely reminiscent of the Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou fight. There are two realistic outcomes: Woodley could grind Till into paste on the mat, or Till could show off his previously unseen wrestling and pick the champion apart. There’s reason to believe in either path, but at least we’ll finally know where Till stands following this bout.
Andrew Richardson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, is a professional fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. In addition to learning alongside world-class talent, Andrew has scouted opponents and developed winning strategies for several of the sport’s most elite fighters.