Marvin Vettori faces Robert Whittaker in the co-main event of UFC Paris this weekend. Both men have lost twice to champion Israel Adesanya, so they will likely be hoping for a new champion when Adesanya meets Alex Pereira at UFC 281. However, a fan favorite who's yet to find his footing in the middleweight division is Darren Till.
During media obligations for UFC Paris, Vettori was asked about 'The Gorilla' who recently had to withdraw from his scheduled bout against Jack Hermansson at UFC London owing to an injury. Till's last outing saw him lose to Derek Brunson. Giving his thoughts, Vettori claimed Darren Till is "irrelevant" in the division and "delusional."
Unsurprisingly, this didn't sit well with the Liverpudlian, who appeared to be both hurt and irritated by the Italian's comments. Responding with a clip of himself, Till said:
"Marvin, listen, you big stupid ba****d. I wish you all the best this week in your fight. I hope you do really well because you're a great fighter. But let's get one thing straight brother, right - I'm 29. When I'm healthy, it's just fight, fight, fight. That's all I'll be doing.
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There's nothing I think about more than just fighting, so what are you talking about, mate? Stop trying to put me down, you big stupid orc ba****d. Because we're going to meet one day and I'm going to drive me fist through your face."
Watch Till respond to Marvin Vettori below:
This was accompanied by a reply Darren Till posted on Twitter, asking Marvin Vettori why he seemed to hate him and Israel Adesanya so much. Clarifying that he only ever trolled the Italian in jest, the former welterweight title challenger said 'The Italian Dream' can tend to "spit pure hatred."
See the post below:
Could we see Darren Till vs. Marvin Vettori in the future?
Till burst onto the scene as an undefeated striker from Liverpool and seemed destined for UFC gold. However, he came up short and suffered his first loss against former champion Tyron Woodley for welterweight gold. His next outing saw him fight Jorge Masvidal and suffer the first KO loss of his career in front of his home crowd in England.
Following the bout, Till moved up to middleweight, which seemed like a healthier division for him to compete in. However, since his move to 185lbs, Darren Till has had one win and two losses and is currently ranked No.9 in the division.
On the other hand, Marvin Vettori is the No.2-ranked middleweight in the world. He last won a unanimous decision over Paulo Costa and will look to continue his winning form against Robert Whittaker at UFC Paris. While a potential fight between Vettori and Till could be fireworks, it may be a while before fans see it. 'The Gorilla' needs to rehab and find his winning ways again before a fight between the two can be made a reality.