With a few weeks having passed since the first UFC event in Liverpool, Darren Till seems eager to build on his growing name by pushing for a show at Anfield.
Till battled against Stephen Thompson in the main event of the show at the Echo Arena, where the Scouse star was victorious. Though, despite his triumph, there were plenty of detractors from his big win following his botched weight cut.
Speaking with ESPN recently, Till stated how he is now unable to simply blend in with the crowd in his home city: “It’s mad, everywhere I go, whether I’m in the car or walking, everyone just knows me and it’s like, ‘Darren Till, the face of MMA in Liverpool.”
Till continued “I love it. I love the positive attention, I really do. I’m always going to be grounded, I’ve still got the same bunch of mates from when I was a kid. I still go to the same places and do the same things. I still think that I’m a 17-year-old boy and nothing will change. The only thing that’s changed for me is that I’m going to become one of the greatest fighters of all time.”
Throughout fight week, Till had been teasing something special for his walk-out. The Liverpool resident often walks out to “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins, though, for the inaugural show in Liverpool he switched it up for “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond which received a fantastic reaction from the crowd.
“I’ve watched it about 50 times,” Till said. “Everyone knows my walkout song is Phil Collins, so I picked that ‘Sweet Caroline’ song for a reason, because of the Liverpool crowd, the Liverpool fans. I know what type of people British fans are. People are starting to say it’s one of the top five walkouts of all time in the UFC, that’s ridiculous. Forget the fight, that walkout alone was history there.”
Following his hugely successful showcase at the Echo, Liverpool’s largest indoor arena, “The Gorilla” is beginning his campaign for bringing the UFC to Anfield, a place he calls “Merseyside Square Garden.”
“Listen, I didn’t think that the Echo would happen, but it did,” Till said. “The Echo website crashed on the day of ticket sales. While it was down, there were 70,000 clicks for tickets — that means a stadium sell-out.”
“I believe with enough momentum, enough advertising on my part and people wanting to come to see me fight again, I believe it’s definitely possible.”
“That is all part of my plan and dreams. Could it happen? I believe it, 100 percent.”
How big can Darren Till become for MMA in Europe?
