In an interview with Basketball Insiders, the No.15-ranked middleweight Darren Till explained why he used the song "Tourner Dans Le Vide" by French artist Indila for his walk-out song.
The song is associated with controversial media influencer and alleged sex trafficker Andrew Tate due to viral clips of him having the song attached to them.
As reported by MMA Mania, Darren Till told the following about Andrew Tate and the infamous song:
"I know he’s very controversial, but I don’t think he’s a bad person and that theme tune for me is just sick. When I’ve seen some of the viral videos I’ve just thought yeah that’s a bit of me. I’m a fan of his but not of all his views and that’s just the way the world works."
Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more
'The Gorilla' walked out to the song in his last outing against the South African native and No.10-ranked middleweight Dricus du Plessis at UFC 282. The song, however, didn't prove to be good luck for Till as he was walked down, outgrappled and submitted via neck crank by 'Stillknocks' in the third round.
Darren Till after his loss to Dricus du Plessis:
Darren Till is currently on a three-fight losing skid and has won only one fight against Kelvin Gastelum since moving to middleweight. He is 5-2-1 in the UFC's welterweight division and 1-3 at middleweight. 'The Gorilla' has a promotional record of 6-5-1 and an overall MMA record of 18-5-1.
With five losses in his last six, what's ahead for Darren Till?
Going into 2023, Darren Till finds himself in very unfamiliar and murky waters, having five losses in the last six fights. 'The Gorilla' was expected to have a promising run at middleweight after suffering two back-to-back losses in his last two welterweight bouts. He only had one successful bout against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244.
Till's last fight at welterweight was against Jorge Masvidal at UFC Fight Night 147 where he was brutally knocked out in the second round. The Masvidal fight might have dimmed the shine of the once supremely confident Liverpool fighter.
Since Till's first professional loss against Tyron Woodley at UFC 228, 'The Gorilla' has had lackluster performances inside the octagon.
Darren Till seemed like he was on a path to redemption, especially since training with middleweight and welterweight phenom Khamzat Chimaev. The Liverpool fighter moved to Sweden to train at All-Star MMA, alongside Alexander Gustafsson and the aforementioned Chechen-born Swede.
Despite training with a highly skilled grappler in 'Borz', Till had little success stuffing takedowns or having answers to Dricus du Plessis' grappling at UFC 282. With a loss to du Plessis, 'The Gorilla' fell down the rankings to No.15 in the middleweight division.
No fight has been booked for Till as of yet. 'The Gorilla' needs a win in 2023 to cement his future in the premier MMA organization.