Ex-UFC fighter Darren Till fought for the first time in a year-and-a-half last night in a short-notice four-round exhibition boxing match in Dubai and emerged with a TKO victory over Mohammed Mutie.
However, there was some controversy over the 2nd round stoppage, at least in the eyes of Mutie, who had complained of being hit in the back of the head and after taking a long time to try to recover eventually said he couldn’t continue, leading Till to be declared the winner via TKO.
Replays suggested the accidental contact to the back of the head was ‘much ado about nothing’, but nonetheless, Mutie, an MMA fighter with a 2-2 record, became increasingly irate with the stoppage, and at Till in particular.
As tempers rose Mutie eventually charged at his opponent after Till called him a ‘coward.’ However, Till then threw out a kick and caught him with a left-hand counter that backed him up.
Till then pressed forward as others surged into the ring to try to break up the brawl, but not before Mutie attempted a takedown. At this point it all got rather chaotic, but Till did briefly get taken down, before quickly getting on top until they were pulled apart.
Till had originally been scheduled to fight former WBC middleweight boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr on the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson card on July 20th before Tyson withdrew from the event.
The 31-year-old, who left the UFC in early 2023 after a slump in form that saw him lose five of his previous six fights, then pivoted to taking on this short notice match-up with the unknown Mutie at ‘Social Knockout 3’ instead.
With this scrappy win under his belt it seems Till is now eager to get back to fighting someone with more name value in the boxing ring next.
“Jake Paul, Tommy Fury, Mike Perry. They’re all running, they’re scared cowards. They do not want to fight me, I promise you,” Till claimed after the fight.
“I swear to god. I am not a four-round, two-minute fighter. I am an eight-round, three-minute fighter, and I will f***ing decapitate them.”
Darren Till boxing in Dubai won by a frustrating TKO after his opponent spewed it complaining of rabbit punches. Here’s the end… but not the end of the madness, 1/2@FightDisciples #boxing
— Nick Peet (@Peety_Editor) July 6, 2024