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Darren Till is in Jacksonville, Florida to help his new best friend Khamzat Chimaev, who is fighting Gilbert Burns on the main card of UFC 273.
Till and Chimaev have been virtually inseparable since 'The Gorilla' started training with 'Borz' at the Allstars Training Center in Sweden. The duo is now known as the 'Smesh Bros' and they even have a collection of NFTs coming out over the weekend.
Via the UFC's Instagram account, Till shared his prediction for the Chimaev vs. Burns fight on Saturday night:
"Hello, Smesh Bros here. Tomorrow night Khamzat is going to destroy Gilbert Burns. First round knockout. Let's go, baby. 50Gs!"
Darren Till will be in Chimaev's corner when the No. 11 ranked welterweight attempts to jump into the contender's circle by beating No. 2 ranked Gilbert Burns. According to UFC president Dana White, a win for Chimaev won't earn the Chechen a title shot. Instead, White is hoping to book Chimaev against Colby Covington to headline a show on ABC.
Darren Till credits Khamzat Chimaev with reigniting his competitive spirit
Darren Till has been on a serious slump the past few years, going 1-3 since losing his welterweight title shot against Tyron Woodley in 2018. Most recently he lost via rear-naked choke to Derek Brunson in September 2021.
That loss is what pushed him to step outside his comfort zone and train with new gyms. Meeting Khamzat Chimaev and being around his infectious confidence has Till feeling revitalized.
Speaking with ESPN, Till said:
“After that Derek fight, I was looking at myself in the mirror, and it wasn’t me, It wasn’t Darren Till. I was looking at my shape. I just couldn’t identify myself, and that’s why it hurt so much. He [Chimaev] fully believes he’s going to smash every guy and make money, and you need to be around that s**t. Trust me because it’s infectious, especially to a guy like me, who believes that, as well.”
Khamzat Chimaev is currently 10-0 in MMA and 4-0 in the UFC. That kind of streak generates a lot of confidence, similar to the confidence Till had when he went into his title fight against Tyron Woodley with a 17-0-1 record.
Watch Till discuss training with Khamzat Chimaev in the ESPN video below:
