Darren Till Plans on Staying At 170 For 'A Few More Fights,' Then Wants Israel Adesanya At 185

While fans have long speculated that Darren Till will eventually outgrow the welterweight division, “The Gorilla” himself finally seems to be plotting a move to 185 pounds -- but not just yet.

Till, a gigantic welterweight who has a history of failed weight cuts at 170 pounds, nonetheless made weight without issue for the biggest fight of his career, when he challenged Tyron Woodley for the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title at UFC 228 last September. However, that night saw Till completely outclassed by the champ, landing zero significant strikes before submitting to a second-round brabo choke.

The 26-year-old Liverpudlian, who teased a move up to middleweight after the fight with Woodley, was interviewed on a recent episode of the “Believe You Me” podcast. Till told host Michael Bisping that the Woodley fight opened his eyes on how to manage his huge weight cut, and maintained he plans to stay at welterweight a little longer.

“I’m definitely going to fight at 185, but just cause I made such a big deal out of the cut myself, because obviously I missed weight in Liverpool and the cut turned out to be surprisingly easy [for the Tyron Woodley fight],” Till said. “It was just easy so I can still stay at welterweight for a few more fights.

“That’s what I’ve got in my head and then obviously move up to 185,” Till added. “But for now I can still make the welterweight cut so I think I’m going to stay at welterweight.”

Till said he is currently eyeing Israel Adesanya for his debut fight when he finally decides to move up to middleweight.

“Stylebender,” Till stated. “I’m always asking Sean [Shelby] for the biggest and the hardest challenges. Obviously, you seen that in my last fight against the champion.

“I just want to fight the best and right now at middleweight, ‘Stylebender’ is one of the best,” Till continued. “Not all-around, but I think striker against striker, me coming from a striking background and him himself, I just think it would be a good matchup. That’s definitely a fight I want in the future.”

Adesanya is scheduled to fight former middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 234 in Australia in February, with the winner promised a title shot. The card is headlined by a middleweight title fight between champion Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum.