Darren Till counters Israel Adesanya over UFC London diss: ‘It’s OK when he’s posting videos crying about his teammates?’

Darren Till doesn’t appreciate Israel Adesanya coming at him after UFC London.

Till became a target of the UFC middleweight champion when he hopped onto the cage to celebrate with his Team Kaobon teammate, Tom Aspinall, following the heavyweight’s first-round stoppage of Alexander Volkov at UFC London. Till was a cornerman for Aspinall and the two are longtime friends, however Adesanya took exception to the scene, telling Till to “sit the f*** down, it’s not your moment” and making several cracks at the Liverpudlian’s expense on his YouTube channel. And Till isn’t exactly sure why.

“It’s OK when he’s posting videos crying about his teammates? ... I think that s*** is lovely,” Till said Wednesday in a dual appearance with Khamzat Chimaev on The MMA Hour. “But when Tom tells me to get on the cage and [celebrate] the moment, the guy who I know once wanted to retire — Tom told me that — and now look at where he is, he’s the best heavyweight on the planet, I can’t be happy for the guy? All because I lost a fight? So his little f****** yes man, his f****** ... come on, let me be happy for Tom.

“You’re with your team when they lose and you’re with your team when they win.”

Till and Adesanya have always had somewhat of a roller-coaster relationship. The two have expressed interest in fighting each other numerous times since Till’s move up to the middleweight division, however Till has been unable to work his way back into title contention. Since his one-sided loss to Derek Brunson in September 2021, which put him on a 1-4 slump over his last five bouts, Till has stepped back from competing to refuel his competitive fire and round out some of the holes in his game.

In doing so, Till has begun training extensively with UFC welterweight contender Chimaev. The duo have formed a fast friendship, and Till says Chimaev’s skills live up to the hype.

“Trust me, you know who my sparring partner was for 15 years — it was Tom Aspinall. He’s one of the greatest in the world right now in MMA. Khamzat is the same, mate,” Till said. “Not many people surprise me, because I know I’m a beast. So this guy must be a beast. I just need to get conditioning, then we take over, brother. Make sure I’m healthy, he’s making sure I’m healthy. If I miss training, he’s on my ass. If I’m eating s***, he’s on my ass.”

Till spoke glowingly of how his time with Chimaev has given him a fresh sense of motivation to mount a renewed push toward UFC gold once he returns.

As for when that return will be, that is still anyone’s best guess.

“Soon,” Till said. “If I’m coming back, I’m coming back to take over, so I need to be 100 percent.”