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Derek Brunson doesn't believe reports from Darren Till's camp that the Englishman was injured heading into UFC Fight Night 191.
The top middleweight contender appeared on the latest episode of The MMA Hour to discuss his recent victory over Till. Ariel Helwani asked Brunson what he thought of the news that Till tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ahead of their clash. In response, Brunson explained why he's convinced the reports were merely excuses from Till's camp:
"Listen, I don't care about none of that. Till is the pull-out king. If he was that injured, he would have pulled out. Till was doing hang cleans and squats and deadlifts like two weeks ago. He didn't tear his ACL. And he never said that; that's what his coach said. I saw him at the UFC Institute, man. He was doing box jumps, hang cleans, squats, all of that."
This comes after Till's head coach Colin Heron claimed 'The Gorilla' was not at hundred percent due to a ligament tear he had suffered approximately nine weeks before the fight. Till, of course, has been one of the most injury-riddled fighters on the UFC roster.
The Englishman suffered a broken collarbone that forced him out of a scheduled bout against Marvin Vettori earlier this year. Before that, Till suffered a torn MCL after his fight with Robert Whittaker last July and broke his foot before his supposed matchup against Jack Hermansson in December.
Watch Derek Brunson's full interview below:
Derek Brunson thought about pulling out against Darren Till
Derek Brunson claimed injuries should not be used as an excuse for losing fights, as getting hurt is part of combat sports. Proving his point, Brunson revealed that he too was hurt ahead of UFC Fight Night 191.
"I was a little injured before the fight but if I was crazy injured, I would have pulled out. I messed up ribs... Everybody's injured going into these fights, man. We're MMA athletes. We're banging each other's bodies up 24/7, beating each other up every single day so that's what comes with it."
Brunson extended his winning streak to five after his submission win over Till in September. The last person to beat him was current middleweight kingpin Israel Adesanya at UFC 230.
