Darren Till couldn’t believe what he was seeing in his combat sports return on Saturday.
The one-time UFC title challenger competed for the first time since December 2022 when he made his boxing debut in a four-round exhibition match against Mohammed Muti at Social Knockout 3. While Till ultimately emerged victorious, it wasn’t the greatest story. Instead, a bizarre scene unfolded when Muti complained of being punched in the back of the head midway through the second round, causing chaos in the ring.
“Dude, you’re an MMA fighter and you’re a fighter. This is nonsense,” Till said Monday. mma hour, “You’re rolling on the floor for 20 minutes? Like, paramedics there? And I’m just watching in disbelief, I’m like, ‘Is this really happening in my comeback?’ I couldn’t believe it. I just think he just wanted a way out. He just sensed my strength there, he knew I was finding my limits, I would probably beat him in that round. This is what I was thinking in my mind. And then, yes, get the win from him, and then hell begins.
Till, 31, confirmed that he accidentally hit Muti in the back of the head during the punch, but is stunned by the scene that followed.
After wandering around in discomfort in the center of the ring, Muti stood up and aggressively attacked Till. The Liverpudlian lunged with a left hand to keep Muti at bay and things escalated rapidly from there, with both teams rushing into the ring and brawling fiercely. At one point, Muti dropped Till to the canvas with a single-leg takedown. The contest was ultimately ruled a second-round TKO in Till’s favor.
“I’m just resting. I’m just looking at him on the floor, kind of rolling around. I’m like, this guy’s not a fighter, he’s just a coward,” Till said. And then he comes to me, he’s like, ‘I wanted to fight, the referee didn’t let me fight.’ I said, ‘Friend, save it.’
“I said, ‘I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear excuses. Just go jogging. See you later.’ And then he started yelling stuff and I said, ‘Dude, look, I think you’re a coward.’ And then I think he thought, like, people would stop him. He ran over me, and as soon as he ran over me, I went back to the strike days.
According to Till, both the event promoter and the local police in Dubai called Muti “disgraceful” for the debacle. That being said, in the midst of all the madness, someone did kick him and he’s not happy about it, but at the end of the day, all that matters is that he came out safe.
After accepting the bout on a lark as a means of getting his feet wet in boxing and getting back into action following a loss in a bout with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on July 20, Till made his viral debut through the lens of everyone Choosing to watch from. Press in the fight game is good press.
“You know what? That guy probably did us a favor, because look online,” Till said. “The whole world’s talking about it, so that’s a good thing. It’s not a bad thing. Darren Till is always in the middle of some shit.
“But shit happens, friend. I have been fighting all my life. I have lived amidst chaos my entire life. So look, it’s just another day at the office. Got my first (boxing) win… and now all these big fights I’ve been campaigning for are coming. So overall, guys, a little crazy week, last minute fight, it’s all good.”
Amidst those potential big feuds, Till continued to call out Mike Perry and Jake Paul. He named fellow UFC veterans Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal as potential opponents for his next fight at Sweet Science.
Notably, Diaz and Masvidal also met in the boxing ring on Saturday, with Diaz winning by 10-round majority decision. That fight was Masvidal’s first boxing match since 2005.
Of course, Till has his own history with Masvidal, having previously suffered a knockout loss to “Gamebred” in the UFC in 2019.
But regardless of where he goes from here, there’s one name Till definitely won’t be facing in his next boxing venture – and that’s “Cowardly” Mutti.
“There was a definite winner, dude. The guy was rolling around on the floor for 20 minutes,” Till said when asked about the rematch. “He has had his five minutes of fame. It was just a matter of getting me out quickly. He was never going to win the fight. He was never going to do anything. He also knows this. Even before the fight, he knew this.
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