In the post-fight press conference following his defeat to Robert Whittaker, Darren Till declared himself a winner.
This might not have been in the traditional sense of getting an arm raised, but we all knew what he meant.
In a chess match of the highest level, Till came up just short against the former 185lbs champion, but more than proved his worth in a match some had written him off in.
Crisp and precise with his striking, bamboozling with his feints, and sturdy when struck, Till offered an all-round performance that offered substance to his own prediction that one day he will wear UFC gold.
The, at times, abrasive Brit, has long declared his will to be a champion, and legend in the MMA game, his performance in the final Fight Island event in Abu Dhabi at the weekend offered more credence to his claims.
He has found a home at middleweight, but it is easy to forget how close to the top of the mountain he was at 170lbs.
Cast your mind back to Till’s last fight at welterweight and so many conversations could be very different.
He dropped Jorge Masvidal inside the opening seconds of their bout in London, but didn’t throw everything into following up, eventually allowing ‘Gamebred’ back to his feet, with the rest being history.
If he wins that fight, he’s right in the title picture at 170lbs, with a shot at Kamaru Usman a distinct possibility. Masvidal’s life is very different too.
A second round knockout left Till nursing consecutive defeats, and looking for a change of plan.
The weight cut to 170lbs had always been brutally tough for the Liverpool native, so a shift to middleweight was a sensible solution. In truth, if there were a 177lbs that would fit perfectly, but what can you do?
Till’s first taste of life at 185 was Kelvin Gastelum. A man with heavy hands and wins over Jacare Souza and former 185lbs king Michael Bisping on his resume. Only six months previously he had gone five rounds with Israel Adesanya – how good does that performance look now?
The decision win announced Till at middleweight, and further enhanced his reputation of not ducking a scrap. He will go after the fights others don’t fancy, and has the skillset and mental fortitude to mix it with the best around.
A defeat to Whittaker is by no means the end of the world.
In MMA you win or you learn, and at 27, Till still has the prime years of his fighting life ahead him.
In a division with standouts like Adesanya, Paulo Costa, Whittaker, Yoel Romero, Jack Hermansson, and Jared Cannonier, Till more than deserves his place among them and will only improve.
Michael Bisping may be the UK’s only UFC champion to date, but the Union Jack flag bearer is now Till, and you wouldn’t be shocked to see him hold the same gold as ‘The Count’.
