Former UFC title contenders Darren Till and Yoel Romero will hook ’em up in the upcoming BKFC 94 main event, recently made official for Sat., Sept. 26, 2026 at AO Arena in Manchester, England. Since their showdown will be contested under bare knuckle boxing rules, Till doesn’t have to worry about kicks or takedowns.
Perhaps that’s why “The Gorilla” is delaying his inevitable knee surgery.
“I’m still walking around with a torn ACL,” Till told MMA Junkie. “After my fight with Luke Rockhold, it actually
popped out in the changing room. My last fight, last camp, it was good. Now it’s good. I can do everything, movements and stuff. But it is the reality of it. I think once I get those knees done and dusted and I’ve made all my money inside, whether it be the bare knuckle, Misfits Boxing, or whatever, I’m hopeful to go back [to MMA]. It just depends on where my career goes in the next year or two.”
Till has not competed in MMA since losing to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 282 back in late 2022.
“I could be [age] 35 and think, you know what? I’ve made enough money,” Till said about his future in MMA. “I don’t need to put myself through that again. But then again, I could have something in me that says, ‘one last run.’ It all depends sometimes on how you feel on the day because our minds change by the day sometimes, especially as fighters. I think it’s just going to come down ultimately to how these next two years go. And yeah, if I’m actually honest with myself, I would actually like to make a return and see how I get on, but I also don’t want to push myself into something that I’m probably not ready for again. So who knows?”
Till, still just 33, made his BKFC debut with a knockout win over reality TV star Aaron Chalmers back in May. As for Romero, who turned 49 back in April, he’s coming off a technical knockout win over Alex Nicholson at the Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA event a couple of months back.
For much more on their upcoming BKFC 94 showdown click here.
