Darren Till admits he considered faking injury ahead of UFC 244 win over Kelvin Gastelum
Darren Till returned to the Octagon early this morning at UFC 244 in New York.
Darren Till admits he came close to faking an injury before his UFC 244 clash with Kelvin Gastelum.
The Liverpudlian locked horns with the No.4-ranked middleweight in the co-main event of the blockbuster card at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Till, who was making his debut in the division, snapped a two-fight losing streak by picking up a split-decision victory over the recent interim middleweight title challenger.
Back-to-back defeats to Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal shook Till's confidence, so much so he didn't want to make the walk to the Octagon this morning.
I was thinking of an injury to fake because I just simply did not want to get in there
“Just to get in there tonight, I tell you,” Till said. “I was trying to fake an injury before walking out.
"I was thinking of an injury to fake because I just simply did not want to get in there.
“This is probably a thing fighters don’t talk about. But you know me and I’m honest. That’s just where I was at."
After seeing off the highly-rated Gastelum, Till admits his confidence has returned somewhat.
He said: "Now, I’m here. Confidence is back. Like f**k all these middleweights. I’m coming for everything. It’s back.”
He does, however, still expect that fear of walking to always linger.
“Every fight, no matter what any fighter will ever tell you, they will be scared,” Till said. “If they tell you they’re not, it’s a blatant lie. This fighter wasn’t scared; I was terrified.
"I wasn’t shaking, but I just didn’t want to go. The magnitude of the event – I was doubting. I was thinking of ways to get out of the fight. This was only today and I’m just so scared.”
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