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Chael Sonnen isn't ready to put Darren Till aside from UFC middleweight title contention. In a video released on his official YouTube channel, Sonnen admitted that Till didn't perform ideally against Derek Brunson in his last fight.
However, the former two-division UFC title challenger believes Darren Till has something to offer reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
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Sonnen went on to mention that the night Adesanya fought Yoel Romero, 'The Solider of God' was coming off a loss. However, Izzy didn't seem to care about any of that and simply wanted to share the octagon with one of the most dangerous middleweights of all time:
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"One of the reasons I'm not willing to dismiss Darren Till. Till did not have his ideal performance and definitely did not have his ideal outcome against Derek [Brunson]. Till offers something to Izzy and you must get the blessing of Adesanya. If any guy has proven that, it's him. The night that he fought Yoel Romero, with Yoel coming off a loss and Izzy telling Dana, 'I don't care about any of that stuff, I don't want punished for any of my success. I don't want punished and told I can't fight the guys I want to fight. I'm in the fight business, I'm in the one field in the world, I don't have to like my co-worker and I can punch him, don't punish me'. Dana goes, 'Okay, alright,'" said Chael Sonnen.
Here's Chael Sonnen's video:
Chael Sonnen claimed Darren Till needs a win or two before fighting for the title
In the same video, Chael Sonnen added that Darren Till needs to get a win or two before fighting for Israel Adesanya's title.
Sonnen also noted that Paulo Costa got the nod to fight for the belt because Israel Adesanya gave it to him. He went on to claim that Robert Whittaker is getting another shot at the belt because "Adesanya handed it to him":
"Paulo Costa got the nod as well because Izzy gave it to him. Bobby Knuckles is getting the nod the second time because Adesanya handed it to him. You have to have the mandate and I think before you count out Darren Till in title contention, I get it, he's got to have a win, I get it, he might even need two, I'm just suggesting don't throw him out yet," Chael Sonnen added.
Darren Till has lost 4 of his last 5 fights with his last octagon outing ending in a submission loss to Derek Brunson. Till also lost to Whittaker in 2020 and has only beaten Kelvin Gastelum since moving to middleweight.
