Darren Till has a message for “toxic” fans who are criticizing his title shot

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is now set to defend his title at UFC 228, on September 8 in Dallas — but not against interim champion Colby Covington. Instead, Woodley will attempt to defend against undefeated Liverpudlian Darren Till.

While this is certainly a great matchup from a competitive standpoint, not everybody loves it. Many fans have been quick to criticize the UFC’s choice to give Till the opportunity, reminding that the Brit missed weight by a significant margin in his last fight, a May decision defeat of Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.

Darren Till has heard these criticisms, and he seems to be getting a little fed up with them.

Speaking to MMAnytt.com, he addressed his doubters.

“What do you want me to do? Just say no? Go, ‘Dana [White], it’s fine, I don’t want that title shot, give it to someone else if they deserve it,’” Till said (transcribed by Jesse Holland for MMAMania). “If Dana’s offering the title shot, I’m not going to say no. MMA fans are so amazing, but also, they can be toxic at the same time. Not just MMA fans, the fighters and people in general.”

“Everyone keeps going on with the weight, the weight, the weight,” Till added. “I’ve never seen someone get so much shit for not making weight one time. It’s like I’ve never made weight. I can’t wait to come back and make the weight to be the new UFC welterweight world champion.”

Needless to say, Darren Till seems pretty determined to silence his doubters— not only by defeating Tyron Woodley, but my making weight first to ensure that he can actually capture the title with a victory.

Darren Till, 25, is currently 17-0-1. Since joining the UFC, he’s defeated Wendell de Oliveira by knockout, battled Nicolas Dalby to a draw, defeated Jessin Ayari and Bojan Velickovic by decision, knocked out Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, and of course, out-worked Wonderboy to a decision.

Do you think Darren Till will make weight and defeat Tyron Woodley at UFC 228?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/26/2018.