Darren Till is a serious prize fighter but that certainly doesn’t mean he can’t have fun while navigating the fight game.
While he was still competing in the UFC, Till often joked about potential matchups including one against Olympic silver medal winning wrestler Yoel Romero and how he would do just about anything to avoid fighting the terrifying Cuban. The joke played well with fans but in reality, Till just never imagined he’d actually end up in a scenario where Romero could be his opponent.
That all changes on Saturday when Till and Romero clash in a bare-knuckle fight in the main event for BKFC 94.
“Look past his age,” Till told MMA Fighting about Romero. “People like to say how old he is. I don’t think it matters how old Yoel Romero is. It could be the most dangerous fight in bare-knuckle. He’s big, strong, he doesn’t seem to get hit. He’s still got a bit of a gas tank on him even though I know he’s edging older a little bit. I think it’s dangerous and this is why I like it.
“Because as a fighter, you’re meant to test and challenge yourself. I’ve always said if you’re a real fighter, you’re not genuinely scared of anyone unless they’re a heavyweight Francis Ngannou. The tongue and cheek comments from me years ago was just being honest. He’s a scary dude. F*ck that.”
While Till never truly feared facing Romero in the ring, he doesn’t underestimate the danger awaiting him when these two start dropping bombs on Saturday.
As soon as the fight was announced, BKFC held a press conference to introduce the matchup and once everything was wrapped up, the promotion had Till and Romero meet in a customary staredown on stage.
Very few words were spoken but for the better part of four-minutes, Till and Romero didn’t break eye contact with BKFC president David Feldman in the middle just watching the intensity grow between the competitors.
The faceoff went viral but Till says he really wasn’t trying to prove anything in that moment other than he was out to win a staring contest.
“I think it just got to that point where no one’s turning away,” Till said about the faceoff. “I don’t go off faceoff energy and stuff like that but he broke character first, he was speaking to me and stuff like that and chewing his gum real hard. I was just on my own thing.
“I’m not going to turn away. I’m going to show you exactly what I’m here to do to you as much as you are to do to me. All that stuff ‘I’m scared of you.’ Well look now, who’s scared? I enjoyed it as well. He is a scary guy.”
If all goes well on Saturday, Till would score a knockout win and move to 2-0 in BKFC and then he’s ready to give the all-time post-fight speech to anyone watching the fight.
Till has no problem making callouts and he believes adding a knockout over Yoel Romero to his resume gives him the freedom to ask for just about anything or anyone.
“That would be my moment to get on the mic and just call everyone out from every organization,” Till said. “I’d just say everyone come here, all the guys from ONE FC, all the guys from PFL/MVP, get your ass over here and fight me. That’s what my speech is going to be when I knock Yoel out. I’m going for it.”
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