5 reasons why Darren Till might not ever reach his potential

#4. His clinch work is negated at middleweight

Due to his Muay Thai base, Darren Till possesses fairly intelligent clinch work. While he does not always use it to create openings for elbows and knees like a traditional Thai kickboxer, he does use it to bully his foes and neutralize their offense, or at least he used to at welterweight.

In the middleweight division, 'The Gorilla' has not implemented his clinch work as effectively as he used to back in the 170lbs weight class. Other than his bout with Kelvin Gastelum which saw Till level change and duck into a clinch by slipping his grasp on the inside of Gastelum's arms, he's not been able to do so against many of his other foes at middleweight.

Much of Till's clinching style relies on leverage from his height and length as well as overall strength. This worked at welterweight as he was an enormous member of the weight class prior to his ascension to the middleweight division. At middleweight, however, he is no taller or stronger than anyone else.

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#3. His counter-wrestling is antiquated

One of the struggles many fighters encountered when facing elite-level grappling opponents like Khabib Nurmagomedov was disengaging from wrestling and grappling exchanges. Darren Till's counter-wrestling lacks a distinct way of disengaging from an opponent's intent to wrestle him.

Yet, it was not Nurmagomedov who Till faced, it was another wrestler who, while skilled, was not as skilled as the undefeated Russian.

Darren Till faced Derek Brunson and found himself repeatedly unable to counter his foe's wrestling. 'The Gorilla' relies on his distance management to keep his hips out of reach of a takedown. When his foes enter range, he typically digs for underhooks to draw his opponents into the clinch.

Unfortunately, this method of counter-wrestling is not as effective as it once was. Till only stops takedowns but does not actively disengage from wrestling exchanges, which allows his opponents to initiate chain-wrestling sequences, which Derek Brunson did to great effect.

While the middleweight division is devoid of many strong wrestlers, Till will struggle against the likes of Derek Brunson and Marvin Vettori. If he cannot get past them, he has no path to the title given his current losing streak, least of all given how many high-level wrestlers are present at welterweight if he ever returns to the weight class in search of greener pastures.