Darren Till believes he’d have an easier time dealing with Israel Adesanya than he did with Robert Whittaker.
Till collided with former UFC middleweight champion Whittaker on July 25. The 185-pound tilt served as the main event of UFC on ESPN 14. After five rounds of action, Whittaker was awarded the unanimous decision victory.
Darren Till Thinks Israel Adesanya Bout Would Be ‘Easier’
Till spoke to reporters following his unanimous decision loss to Whittaker. He explained why he feels fighting Adesanya would be easier than the bout with “The Reaper” (via MMAJunkie).
“I’m going to have to lay off him for a while,” Till told reporters, including MMA Junkie. “All I do is scream at him in Instagram messages. I’ve got a lot of respect for Israel. I think he’s a great fight. But you know what, this is no disrespect for him, but I think he’s probably an easier fight for me than Rob because we’d probably have a great striking battle. Rob’s a bit different because he mixes it up. Israel’s the champ, he’s a great MMA fighter, but he’s a pure striker. I think we’d have a great fight. Rob mixed it up a little bit. He’s wild. … (Adesanya and I are) going to fight. I’ll come back, I’ll knock someone out, and we’ll fight.”
With the defeat to Whittaker, Till has now gone 1-3 in his last four outings. Many believe a win over Whittaker would’ve put Till in prime position for a shot at the winner of Adesanya vs. Paulo Costa. The good news for “The Gorilla” is that it was a highly competitive contest and he could be just a couple of wins away from getting that middleweight title opportunity.
Adesanya showed a sign of respect to Till following the bout, saying he still wants to fight “The Gorilla” down the line.
“I still wanna fight Till one day. His striking is beautiful. Stay up Darren!”
