Last month in London, former UFC fighters Darren Till and Luke Rockhold, along with Tony Ferguson and Salt Papi, faced off at a press conference ahead of their upcoming bouts. Till and Rockhold are set to clash on August 30th at Misfits X Series 22, held at the AO Arena in Manchester, England. Tensions boiled over when Dan Hardy, acting as mediator, lost control, and Till and Rockhold ended up chest to chest in a heated confrontation.

The former UFC duo quickly escalated into clinch fighting, pushing, shoving, and trading trash talk, sparking a heated feud between Darren Till and Luke Rockhold. Fast forward to just a couple of days ago, Till appeared in an interview with Seconds Out, where he voiced his frustration with Rockhold — comparing his ego to that of two-division champion Conor McGregor. 

“Yeah, I do because Luke can’t take criticism,” Till told the reporter when asked if he plans to engage in mind games before their fight. However, his response quickly spiraled into a rant, exposing Rockhold’s ego. “Luke’s pride, Luke’s ego, it’s just… You can just feel it in the room. It’s just the biggest, it’s probably the second biggest ego in the world after Conor McGregor.”

Till explained that McGregor’s ego is understandable because of the things the Irish mixed martial artist has achieved throughout his career in the UFC. “He’s f—ing worth hundreds and hundreds of millions, and he’s f—ing double champ UFC,” Rockhold said. Even though the 40-year-old was also a former UFC champion, Till doesn’t seem to respect him. 

“As much as Luke was a UFC champ, I feel like Luke looks down on people,” Till said. Notably, Rockhold won the UFC middleweight championship on December 12, 2015, at UFC 194, defeating Chris Weidman by TKO in the fourth round. Rockhold held the title until June 4, 2016, when he lost it to Michael Bisping at UFC 199.

Regardless, ‘The Gorilla’ seems to have been offended by some of the things ‘Rocky’ has been saying about him ahead of their fight. “Like I’ve seen a video of him recently, just like he was mocking me in the ring. He was mocking [my] skill set,” Till said. However, the 32-year-old claims he is unbothered by all the insults, as he issued a dire warning for Rockhold. 

“When it’s all said and done, you can mock this, mock that,” Till added during the interview. “He’s just going to find out August 30th. I swear I’m going to go in there and just wipe Luke out. I’m going to wipe him off the face of the earth. He doesn’t even realize what I’m going to do to him.” However, can Till really deliver on his promise? Rockhold’s former opponent shares his take. 

Mike Perry predicts Darren Till vs. Luke Rockhold 

Bare Knuckle FC star Mike Perry has shared his prediction for the headlining fight for Misfits 22. Rockhold will make his boxing debut after leaving the UFC in 2022, as both fighters look to revive their combat sports career after major setbacks in MMA. Perry, who defeated Rockhold via TKO in his bare-knuckle debut last year, has had a long-standing rivalry with Till as well. 

Though Perry and Till were once linked to a fight in Misfits Boxing, negotiations fell through. Now, Perry is keenly watching Till’s next big challenge. When asked for his prediction on X, Perry stated, “Unless Luke with gloves on is a new mythical fighter, I think [Darren Till] will win.” Till quickly acknowledged the support, replying, “Thank you sir [HEART].”

Having parted ways with the UFC, Till has seen a career resurgence, with a couple of stoppage wins over Anthony Taylor and Darren Stewart. Needless to say, he will be the favorite in the upcoming fight, but can he end Rockhold’s career once and for all?