Darren Till has had a bit of a rough run over the past year. Last September, Till lost his bid for the UFC welterweight title, get submitted by Tyron Woodley at UFC 228. Then in March, Till lost his comeback fight when Jorge Masvidal knocked him out at UFC Fight Night London. It is the first two-fight losing skid of Till’s career and left the notoriously confident fighter in a strange position in the welterweight division, well outside of the title picture and looking for answers.

In the end, Till figured things out and will now be moving up to middleweight to take on fourth-ranked contender Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244. Speaking to BT Sport recently, Till said he was still trying to figure out the next step for himself when this fight fell into his lap, and with an opponent like Gastelum, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

“I didn’t even know what I was gonna do,” Till said. “I was in two minds and then Kelvin sorta called me out on Twitter and I was like listen, it’s sort of that stupid cliche saying, ‘Go big or go home.’ In my eyes, one of the chance to fight one of the best in the division. He’s a dog, he’s a dog, he’s a Mexican dog. So tough, so durable. I can’t turn down challenges like that.”

Till was in a bit of limbo after his last fight. Professionally, Till’s aspirations for the welterweight title were suddenly a long way from coming true but Till also admits that on a personal level, the loss to Masvidal rattled him for quite a while.

“It hurt a lot for a while. A lot of guys say, ‘I wasn’t bothered,’ but it hurt,” Till said. “Just because I just know what could have been after that fight. It could have been title, back in there, a lot of stuff. I even said to coach Colin, ‘Win or lose this fight, Colin, I wanna be straight back in and fight again,’ but it never quite went that way. I just like sort of fell off the wagon.”

Since joining the UFC in 2015, Till has been one of the more active fighters on roster. When Till does finally return at UFC 244 he will have been out of the cage for eight months, the longest absence of his UFC career. Till went on to explain that the Masvidal loss led to a small crisis of faith, and that his prolonged absence from fighting was about him getting back the confidence that he lost from back-to-back knockout defeats.

“All my life I’ve had this crazy confidence that I’m just this superhuman being inside that Octagon and in life and it got knocked a bit,” Till explained. “I’m not ashamed to say that. I want to get that back. It’s there. I’m still that confident guy that if you put me in front of everyone, I know I can beat them. I know there’s something in me that can beat everyone. I’ve got that technique and I’ve got that will. It got lost a bit after the fight, so I just had to find it. That’s why maybe it’s took a little bit longer to come back.”

The wait will be worth it though as Till is coming back in a big way. Aside from being the fourth-ranked contender, Gastelum is coming off the presumptive Fight of the Year against Israel Adesanya at UFC 236 and a win will immediately put either man on the shortlist of middleweight contenders.

Till faces Gastelum in the co-main event of UFC 244 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

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MUST-READ STORIES

Easy game. Israel Adesanya expects a lopsided fight against Robert Whittaker: ‘I’ll pick him apart quite easily’.

Wrasslin’. Cain Velasquez in talks with WWE and other pro wrestling groups, possible match with Brock Lesnar.

Shade. Unlike Ronda Rousey, Ben Askren didn’t want to hide away after his loss to Jorge Masvidal.

Goals. Paulo Costa rooting for Israel Adesanya over Robert Whittaker because ‘I really want to knock him out cold.’

Triple C. Scott Coker open to sending Bellator champion Ryan Bader to Rizin to pursue third world title.

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VIDEO STEW

Israel Adesanya exchanges jerseys with Paul Pierce.

UFC Embedded.

Fighters pick Whittaker vs. Adesanya.

A Mega TTTHS.

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LISTEN UP

Anik & Florian. Recapping UFC Copenhagen plus previewing UFC 243.

UFC Unfiltered. An interview with Cub Swanson.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Jon Jones responds to Weidman.

Frank Lester coming in HOT with accusations.

That’s a heavy-ass belt.

Cool.

Dustin staying ready.

Itching to get busy.

Free trip to Australia is an okay consolation prize.

I don’t . . . I don’t understand.

Wow. What a letdown of a poster.

And this one is just boring.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Kevin Holland (16-4) vs. Brendan Allen (12-3); UFC on ESPN 6, Oct. 18.

Nick Newell (16-2) vs. Manny Muro (9-6); Bellator 232, Oct. 26.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.

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EXIT POLL

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If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let him know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram, add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting, and like us on Facebook.