UFC: "I don’t like to slander Dana too much" - Darren Till calls UFC’s sponsorship cuts “cruel,” says life is better now

Darren Till feels he holds far more agency over fight negotiations since leaving the UFC. Speaking to Demetrious Johnson about how his boxing fights at Misfits are made compared to his MMA career, 'The Gorilla' described some of UFC practices as "cruel."

During the interview, the Englishman specifically called out the UFC apparel deal and subsequent sponsorship cuts, which effectively banned individual sponsors on fight kids and fight week gear.:

"I don't like to slander Dana [White] too much; he gets a lot of heat, but obviously, I have to be a truthful guy as well. I will stand on business for what I believe in. It's like even when you're in the UFC, it's like, 'Oh, we're going to take away your sponsorships now. We're going to put Venum in there or Reebok, and it was like. 'Wow, what he f**k is going on? Now the fighters aren't even making money outside of it? It was actually quite cruel, some of it. It was, it was cruel."

For context, the Reebok deal, signed in 2014, is widely seen as having severely limited the earning potential of fighters on the roster, benefiting only a handful of superstars and the company.

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The deal had notoriously low fighter pay-outs starting at $2,000, with champions receiving $40,000 per fight.

Till admits that life is now much better since he had more leverage during fight negotiations:

"F**k all that, mate. For me now, I couldn't love life more. I've just made a s**t ton of money... I'm just like, who wants to fight?... $2 million, $3 million. Yeah, you want to be the A side and get $4 million? Go on, give me my [money]. [44:40 minutes of the interview]"

The 32-year-old most recently earned a KO win over Luke Rockhold at Misfits Boxing 22. Per TheSportster, 'The Gorilla' pocketed over $1 million for the win.

Check out Darren Till's comments below (44:42):

Why did Darren Till transition to boxing?

In his heyday in MMA, Darren Till was one of the best strikers in the UFC, having outclassed the likes of Stephen Thompson, Donald Cerrone, and Kelvin Gastelum, among others.

However, since leaving the world's premier MMA promotion, 'The Gorilla' settled into boxing. And it seems the growth of celebrity boxing and the success of stars like Jake Paul and Tommy Fury was what ultimately nudged him into the sport

"I've got a lot of heavy contacts in boxing. I was like, hang on, there is a money train to be had here. I see what Jake Paul is doing. I see what Tommy Fury has done. I was like, 'I can get in on this'... I know I'm a high-level striker... I've fought the best of the best, the [Robert] Whittakers and Stephen Thompsons... I was like, 'There is a money train here. I can get on this money train and choo choo, go all the way.' [25:03 minutes of the interview]"

About the author

Ujwal Jain is a sports journalist who covers MMA at Sportskeeda and holds a bachelor's degree in mass communication and journalism. He has been practicing martial arts from an early age and won several accolades at national-level competitions in karate and Taekwondo. He also holds a back belt in karate. Ujwal loves fact-checking, helping out with related research, and being a fresh set of eyes for fellow writers’ articles.

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