Darren Till has jumped right into the mix of the UFC’s 185 title shot picture, thanks to his win over Kelvin Gastelum, and the Liverpool fighter believes he’s the “money man” of the weight class as a result.

Till comments on why he’s being called out

A few months ago, Till turned heads throughout MMA by agreeing to fight Gastelum in what would serve as his middleweight debut. While Till’s decision to move up from 170 to 185 wasn’t a surprise, as he’s talked about doing so for a while, the opponent caught many off guard. After all, Till was coming off back-to-back losses to Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal, and Gastelum is ridiculously dangerous.

Well, Till outscored Gastelum for the decision win at UFC 244, and now he’s ranked #5 in the division as a result. Recently Till spoke with BT Sport,  and he had this to say, while discussing his future (quotes via MMA Junkie):

“The people forget the fighter I was before I got knocked out,” Till said. “Forget the Woodley fight. People forget the fighter I was, what I done to the best striker in the UFC, Stephen Thompson, where I calm and calculatedly beat him, nearly knocked him out. Look at the performance he’s just had, or before that (Donald Cerrone), or before that all the European stars I was just taking out, or before that when I was in Brazil just taking names, or even before that. So now they’re all just calling me out. I’m the money man in the division.”

“Forget the champion: it’s me,” Till added. “They all know what they want. Maybe they’re all seeing it as easy money – not a chance. Not a chance, mate.”

Is Till the “money man”? It might depend on how you take that term. Is Till a bigger draw than say, the champ Israel Adesanya? Probably not. At least, outside of the United Kingdom. But, is Till a big fight for any of the top contenders? There’s no question he is.

Till’s next opponent?

So, who will Till end up fighting next? Considering Robert Whittaker has expressed an interest in fighting him, and Jared Cannonier reportedly has too. While talking about that, Till said this:

“I’ll pick,” Till said. “I’ll just see who I want to fight because they’re all calling me out for a reason, so obviously I’m holding all the chips.”

There you have it. Don’t be surprised if we see Till and Whittaker fighting sometime in the near future.

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