RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesDarren
Till is concerned about his life after fighting.
Several retired fighters have been embroiled in controversies since
retiring from competition. The recent arrests of former
Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters Dustin
Poirier and Anthony
Smith have brought the issue to the limelight. This has
prompted Till to speculate on what lies ahead for him if he doesn’t
find a new “healthy obsession” after retiring. Darren Till reacts to recent fighter arrests and discusses life
after MMA
Poirier was arrested at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International
Airport after threatening to fight a police officer and even using
a racial slur while intoxicated. The former interim champion has
since committed to sobriety indefinitely and apologized for his
actions. On the other hand, Smith’s recent arrest was far more
shocking, as he has been accused of trying to harm his wife, with
witnesses even claiming to have heard gunshots from their
house.
While Till admits that the recent arrests have him worried about
his own future, “The Gorilla” isn’t taking Poirier’s arrest too
seriously, as he admittedly behaves similarly quite often. The Brit
believes that he has identified the problem that leads to retired
fighters getting into trouble. According to the former UFC title
challenger, retired fighters often get into vices chasing the high
that fighting used to give them.
Till hasn’t found his next big passion yet and is concerned about
himself, as he claims to be worse than most fighters in terms of
vices.
“I think life after fighting, if we don’t find a healthy obsession,
more than likely we always find an unhealthy obsession,” Till told
Ariel Helwani. “Because I think it gives us the same type of high
that fighting does… I'm not gonna f*cking judge them. I actually
said something about Dustin... I was like, ‘Mate, shut up. You
haven't even done anything. I carry on like that every Friday and
Saturday, so just shut the f*ck up. Who gives a f*ck?’ I get it.
Some people are a little bit more embarrassed... I haven’t got the
remedy for it, but I definitely know what’s the problem… I'm 10
times worse than all these other fighters… I do get a bit scared
myself for what's to come, so I now need to be thinking, over the
next three years, what to put in place so it doesn't end up like
that.”
Till has racked up three boxing wins and one bare-knuckle boxing
victory since parting ways with the UFC in 2022. He is now
scheduled to fight Yoel Romero
in a bare-knuckle boxing bout at BKFC 94 on Sept. 26. Darren Till
admits the recent arrests of retired fighters have left him worried
about his own future after fighting: "I'm not gonna f***ing judge them. I actually said something about
Dustin... I was like, 'Mate, shut up. You haven't even done
anything. I carry on like that… pic.twitter.com/ITorME0mcX — Ariel
Helwani (@arielhelwani)
July 29, 2026
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