Till verklaart waarom hij niet op gewicht is: “I offered 100 percent of my purse”

UFC

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Voor zijn gevecht tegen de Amerikaanse Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson slaagde Darren Till er niet in om op zijn afgesproken gewicht van 171 lbs op de weegschaal te staan. In eerste instantie gaf de Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) hem extra tijd om af te vallen, maar dit mocht niet baten. Till ging in gesprek met MMA Junkie over de situatie.

“There’s never no excuse for missing weight. I always say it: When you fight, and you lose a fight, there’s no excuse. You lose. Same with the battle with the scales. This time I lost, and there’s no excuse. I know that the UFC said why I missed and gave some information. When I started cutting weight I got an emergency call. It was a family matter. I just had to go to the hospital there and back. I only had five kilos to go. Usually I have six, seven. I was running. I was OK. I was fine. And I tried to get in the sauna, tried to get in the steam, I tried to do a bath. It just wasn’t happening. I was knackered.”

Thompson en Till verzorgen het main event van UFC Fight Night 130. De promotie maakt hier zijn debuut in Liverpool en zal plaatsnemen in de Echo Arena.

Till praat verder: “I missed weight, and I’m truly embarrassed by it, but the fight’s still on hopefully. I’ve got to weigh in again tomorrow. We’ll see how it goes. I know they’re very adamant I’ve got to weigh a certain weight. The ball’s in their court. Listen, I offered 100 percent of my purse. Money is no object. Money will come sooner than later. I offered 100 percent.”

Terwijl het gevecht officieel door gaat, wacht er nog wel een opdracht voor de Engelsman. Hij moet namelijk op zondagmorgen maximaal 188 lbs wegen. Of dit is gelukt, is nog onbekend.

“They were adamant I had to weigh in 83-85 kilo,which just – it’s bad for me health. We’ll see what happens in the morning when I weigh. I’ve already started drinking. I’ve already started filling back up. We’ll see. I’m sure the fight’s on. I’ll have to pass medicals, and I’ll have to train tonight or tomorrow. But I’m mentally prepared for anything. Nothing gets to me in this life. If I do have to train in the morning to make the weight and cut again, I’ll do it. Eighty-five kilo tomorrow morning is not enough. It’s not that it’s not enough. I just put weight on so quick. I’ve got a slow metabolism. I just started drinking before, and it went up like that. So, we’ll see. It could be a mind game. If I have to make the weight, I’ll make it.”

Het evenement begint om 16:30 met de early prelims op UFC Fight Pass. Om 17:00 beginnen de prelims ook op UFC Fight Pass en om 19:00 begint de main card op Fox Sports 2.

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