Darren Till’s tattoo of a mystery woman (Image: Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Former UFC welterweight title contender Darren Till has covered up a tattoo of a girl which sparked debate among fight fans.
The Liverpudlian is set to make his Misfits Boxing debut against Anthony Taylor tonight, almost two years after his departure from the UFC. Till left the MMA promotion with the aim of exploring other opportunities. He was scheduled to make his professional boxing debut against Mexican ex-WBC middleweight boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr last July, but the fight was ultimately cancelled.
Instead, he faced Palestinian mixed martial artist Mohammad Mutie in an exhibition boxing match at Social Knockout 3 in Dubai that same month. Despite a punch landing on the back of Mutie’s head, Till was declared the winner by technical knockout in the second round.
He is now expected to transition to Manchester, but faces a challenging opponent in Taylor, who has considerable experience in the Misfits world. Fans have observed that Till has covered up his tattoo of his girlfriend’s face with a gorilla. He has previously stated that he got the tattoo to keep the woman, who is the mother of two of his children, close to him at all times, even during fights.
Many fans erroneously thought Till’s tattoo resembled ex-UFC star Paige VanZant, but the MMA fighter brushed off such suggestions. “It’s my girl,” Till clarified about the ink. “It was a surprise for her on her birthday. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to do something different. I’m going to get a tattoo of her face’.”
The tattoo buzz lingered but Till insisted, “It’s not Paige VanZant, I don’t even know who that is. As I’ve told you about my girl, she’s next to none other. So every time I fight, she fights too. And she gets beat up with me – so if she’s p***ing me off, I just go to the gym and let some guys punch me.”
The combat sports world was also set abuzz with news of a potential bout between Till and Tommy Fury, which has now fallen apart. Fury explained his decision to withdraw in a social media statement: “I can’t believe I’m writing this but I am now not fighting Darren Till on January 18. For the one simple reason being that Darren has stated over and over that he does not want to abide by professional boxing rules and that if he is losing the fight he will resort to kicking and other stupid MMA tactics.”
Fury continued his explanation, underscoring his dedication to boxing and lamenting the wasted preparation. “I am a professional boxer, I have been out of the ring for over a year and I wanted this to be a great BOXING fight for the fans. I have wasted weeks in training camp. We are working hard to get a new opponent and date. I promise to get a better opponent and better fight for you guys. Good news around the corner.”