Darren Till had a productive UFC run, but he wasn’t always a fan of the way the promotion handled the business side of things.
It’s been almost three years since Till last fought in the octagon, where he became a one-time title challenger at welterweight and established himself as a contender at middleweight. After being granted his release in 2023, Till transitioned to boxing, where he has found success including a brutal knockout of fellow former UFC star Luke Rockhold in August.
Till appeared on
the MightyCast to speak to host Demetrious Johnson about the differences between the worlds of boxing and MMA, with the topic of financial compensation taking up much of the conversation.
“I don’t like to slander Dana too much, he gets a lot of heat, but obviously I have to be a truthful guy as well. I always stand on business with what I believe in as well, but even when you’re in the UFC, it’s like, ‘We’re going to take away your sponsorship now. We’re going to put Venum in there or Reebok,’” Till said. “I was like, ‘What the f*cks going on now?’ So now the fighters aren’t even making money outside of it. It was actually quite cruel, some of it. It was, it was cruel.
“That sort of stuff, 10 plus 10, and then your fight’s set in stone, f*ck all that, that does not—For me now, I couldn’t be loving life more, I’ll be honest. I’ve just made a shit-ton of money.”
Till was referring to a landmark apparel sponsorship deal between the UFC and Reebok in 2014, which saw fighters guaranteed a set amount of money from the deal, but also forbid them from having any other visible sponsors on fight night. Many fighters later complained the compensation from the Reebok (and later Venum in 20202) deal did not make up for the lost sponsorship money.
Now, Till calls his own shots, and he hopes the work he’s done in the UFC and boxing thus far put him in line for a massive pay day with a high-profile opponent, whether it be Jake Paul, Tommy Fury, or someone else. And when it comes time to negotiate, Till isn’t going to make more waves than necessary.
“Oh, you want to be the A-side and take five and I take three mil?” Till said. “No problem. No problem at all. Go for it, be the A-side, you’re the best, you’re everything. I’m just going to do me, I’m just going to knuckle down, none of that ego shit.
“Next fight again, Jake Paul, you want 50 million, give me 10. … I don’t give a shit, take it, because I’m going to knock you clean out and I’m just going to keep going boom boom boom.”
As much as Till is enjoying his foray into the boxing world, he acknowledged that there are more politics involved when it comes to making big fights due to the freedom boxers have to negotiate, especially compared to life under a UFC contract.
Till understands that’s the give and take of the business when it comes to giving fighters what they deserve and satisfying fans.
“When you’re in the UFC, it’s just killers,” Till said. “You’ve seen the prelims, the prelims are the better than the main card most of the time. Killers’ row. Then you we have to go back and think, hang on though, that’s why the UFC is creeping up on boxing because Dana does make the best fights. I feel like he’s let off lately, I think his focus has been more on boxing, but if we look back on the fights he’s made and the best have always fought.
“No. 1 fights No. 2, so are we willing to accept lesser pay? That’s the problem because there is a lot lesser pay, so when you’re looking at it from the outside, the UFC’s always putting the best with the best.”
