Darren Till refutes Uriah Hall’s claim about Israel Adesanya’s competition: “He’s fought all killers”

By Tom Taylor - February 2, 2021

Darren Till has gone to bat for UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya after a recent criticism from his fellow contender Uriah Hall.

Darren Till, Uriah Hall, Israel Adesanya

Hall, the UFC’s No. 8-ranked middleweight, recently expressed his belief that Adesanya has been competing against subpar opposition of his own volition.

“I know this is just gonna get me in trouble; I think this dude’s just picking fights, man,” Hall told MMA Fighting’s What the Heck show. “He’s picking fights, and maybe he has that leverage. But maybe [I think that way] because I want to fight him so bad. I really want to fight him.”

Speaking on Twitter, the No. 4-ranked middleweight Till responded to this comment from Hall. While he began by acknowledging that Hall is a tough fight for anyone in the middleweight division—the champ included—he denied Hall’s claim about Adesanya seeking out favorable opposition.

“As much as I think Uriah hall is a tough fight for ‘Adelasagne,’ in fact for anyone in the division, ‘Adelasagne’ ain’t picking his opponents,” Till wrote. “He’s fought all killers. Just my opinion.”

Hall is currently scheduled for a fight with former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman on April 24. The bout will be a rematch of 2010 fight that Hall lost by TKO, and mark his opportunity to build on the momentum of a knockout victory over middleweight legend Anderson Silva.

Till, meanwhile, is currently gearing up for for an April 10 fight with No. 5-ranked middleweight contender Marvin Vettori. That bout will mark his opportunity to rebound from a split decision loss to former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker.

Adesanya, finally, is currently occupied with ambitions outside the middleweight division. He’s slated to challenge UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz in a bid for a second title at UFC 259 on March 6.

What do you think of this back-and-forth involving Uriah Hall, Darren Till and Israel Adesanya?