Darren Till refuses to fight Mike Perry bareknuckle: ‘I’m not busting my face up at 31’

Since leaving Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) nearly two years ago (here’s why), Darren Till has struggled to secure himself a big fight. And the only one that’s seemingly available is one that he definitely doesn’t want.

And it would be so good.

Indeed, a clash against long-time rival, “Platinum” Mike Perry, under bareknuckle boxing rules. The two men have been talking trash to each other for several years, and once “The Gorilla” left UFC in 2022, it seemed like a fight was finally possible.

Well it is ... just not in Perry’s home promotion BKFC.

“I don’t care, I will fight him,” Till explained on The MMA Hour. “I’m not saying no because I’m scared, I’m saying no because I don’t need to fight bare-knuckle right now. I’m not busting my face up at 31, f— that. What birds are going to look at me?”

Bareknuckle boxing has a well-deserved reputation for being extra brutal. The wrapped hands slice faces up within seconds, often leaving both fighters a bloody mess after a minute or two. So, is it completely reasonable for Till to refuse to fight in the sport? Sure. Are we as fans going to accept that decision happily? No.

Till reportedly turned down a $2 million offer to fight Perry at the last “Knucklemania” event. Since then, he’s been booked (and then dropped) from a Jake Paul “Fear No Man” card against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on July 20, 2024, because of visa issues. And then there was the gigantic disaster that was his last-second Social Knockout 3 boxing match against Muhammad Mutie in Dubai.

Mutie went down in the second round off a single punch to the back of the head, and looked like he was on his way to earning a disqualification win or a “No Contest” when Till called him a coward. That sparked a brawl that saw the ring get flooded with people kicking and punching.

Not a good look, but it’s the kind of thing that generates traction in the Influencer boxing world. And since Mutie displayed he was clearly able to keep fighting, the fight was ruled a Till win via technical knockout (injury).

“You know what? The guy probably did us a favor,” Till said. “Because look online. The whole world is talking about it, so it’s a good thing. It’s not a bad thing. Darren Till is always in the middle of some s—.

“But, s— happens, mate,” he continued. “I’ve been in brawls all my life. I’ve been amongst the chaos all my life. So look, it’s just another day in the office. Got the first [boxing] win and now all these big fights, what I’ve been campaigning for, they’re going to come. So all in all, mate, bit of a mad week, last-minute fight, all good.”

Who’s next?

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