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Apart from being one of the prime fighters in the UFC, Darren Till is also a fluent speaker of Portuguese. Having lived in Brazil for more than three years as a teenager, the Englishman got the opportunity to pick up the language.
The fact that Darren Till can speak the language fluently makes it all the more impressive. However, the story behind his move to Brazil is rather unusual.
While fighters often seek training and experience in specialist gyms, moving from your home country to the country of origin of a fighting style is unheard of. Yet Darren Till did it, and he admits he's better for it.
Why did Darren Till move to Brazil?
In an interview with Layla Anna-Lee, Darren Till admitted that his relocation to Brazil was borne of the need to learn jiu-jitsu. However, that's not all. A near-death experience expedited his decision to immigrate to South America.
"I was kicked out of school and my mum was on my case to get a job," revealed Darren Till. "I was training a lot but mixing with the wrong crowd. I was in a nightclub and I got stabbed, I spent time in the hospital. I just believe everything (Coach Colin) says, so I went the week later. 'Go to Brazil [he said] and let's see what can happen'. He trusted me to come back as a UFC fighter."
Darren's move to Brazil was more challenging than he thought it would be. Forced to survive alone in a strange country where only a handful of people spoke English, he was forced to adapt and overcome the challenges he was presented with.
The 28-year-old revealed that all he did during his time in Brazil was eat, sleep, train and study Portuguese from Google Translate. What's more, he practiced speaking Portuguese in the gym and successfully picked up the language a couple of months down the line.
