Darren Till was sent to Brazil by his coach Colin Heron after being stabbed in a nightclub in Liverpool at the age of 19. 'The Gorilla' recently shared intimate details about his experience during an interview with Marcelo Brigadeiro, who was his head coach at the Astra Fight Team in Brazil.
While he is sport enough to laugh about it now, Till seemingly struggled to make ends meet at times. The Liverpudlian admittedly used to shoplift soaps from supermarkets to sell them in the gym.
Coach Brigadeiro recounted an episode when Till picked up several packs of energy drinks after winning a big fight in Argentina and packed them with sheets from the hotel to sell them off back in Brazil.
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Not one to give excuses, 'The Gorilla' justifies his actions, claiming his hustles paid off at times. The 29-year-old said on the Portuguese podcast Desenrolo:
"I've sold coconut water, soap, energy drinks. Man I was like that... There were a few months when I started to earn. That's why I say, there's no excuses or anything like that. Because there were some months when I earned $6000 or $7000 a month, man." h/t Brazilian MMA Legends
Watch Darren Till's comments below (3:20):
Dana White on Darren Till's future in the UFC
Darren Till has suffered all five of his career losses within his last six outings, getting knocked out once and submitted thrice. 'The Gorilla' recently dropped a third-round submission loss against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 282, raising further doubts about a once seemingly promising career.
However, UFC head honcho Dana White had some reassuring words for Till in the aftermath of UFC 282. According to White, the Liverpudlian's stock did not drop at all after his last bout, which also won the Fight of the Night award. The 53-year-old said during the post-fight presser:
"I don't think his stock drops at all. You know, if he went out there and got destroyed in the first round, like it looked like it was gonna happen, but it did the exact opposite, he weathered that storm, stayed out of submissions. Then he comes back and you think he's gonna win the fight."
Watch White's comments below: