Darren Till targets future rematch with Jorge Masvidal

After back-to-back losses to Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal, English welterweight contender Darren Till finds himself on shaky ground. He’ll enter his next fight in a must-win situation, as a third straight loss could be disastrous for his UFC career.

Despite the massive stakes of his next fight, Darren Till says he absolutely intends to fight again this year. The Brit opened up on his fighting future in a fantastic interview with James Edwards of Fighters Only.

“Yeah definitely – 1 million percent,” Till said when asked if he’d fight again (transcript via Farrah Hannoun of MMA Junkie).

“I’m not saying I’m back, but I’m just in my happy place,” he added, explaining how his mindset has evolved over the last year and a half. “I feel like the Darren Till before he was fighting in Rotterdam. I got back from Brazil and I was just in this world of going to the gym, training really hard.”

Had Darren Till defeated Jorge Masvidal, he would have erased the memory of his submission loss to Tyron Woodley, and very possibly earned himself a scrap with undefeated contender Ben Askren, who had been calling him out ceaselessly ahead of time. He might have even earned a title shot opposite new champ Kamaru Usman. Despite the implications of this fight with Masvidal, however, Till admits his head wasn’t entirely in the game come fight night — and he wound up paying for this lapse with second round KO loss.

“Maybe my hand was 50 percent in,” Till said. “If I beat Masvidal, it would have been me vs. Usman. But now it’s (Ben) Askren-Masvidal. I think if Askren wins, he probably might get a shot.”

Although Darren Till claims he wasn’t completely focused ahead of his fight with Jorge Masvidal, he has plenty of respect for his American foil.

In fact, he says he’s hoping for a do-over with Masvidal in the near future.

“Masvidal, he’s a respectful guy,” Till said. “He’d come to me after the fight and I was – not crying, but I had my head down and someone tapped me on my shoulder and it was Masvidal, and he shook my hand. He was like, ‘You nearly had me in the first (round).’”

“I want that (expletive) rematch. I want that rematch.”

Does a future rematch between Darren Till and Jorge Masvidal interest you?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 7/1/2019.