Darren Till would rather the $25,000 taken from Kelvin Gastelum’s purse be used for a purposeful cause, after the 28-year-old made contact with his coach Rafael Cordeiro while on the scale.
New York, NY— Most fighters would relish the opportunity to earn a little extra cash.
Not Darren Till.
Till was rewarded $25,000 dollars from Kelvin Gastelum’s fight purse after the fourth-ranked middleweight made contact with his coach Rafael Cordeiro during the UFC 244 official weigh-ins, a violation of NYSAC rules.
The 26-year-old believes there’s a more significant cause that could benefit from the commission’s ruling.
“Give it to someone or back to him (Kelvin),” said Till, who competes against Gastelum in Saturday’s co-main event at Madison Square Garden. “I’m here for what’s mine and that’s to win. Give it to Walt Harris’s daughter’s missing fund. Help a good cause—give it back to him because he needs it.”
Following the Friday morning weigh-ins, photos of Gastelum leaning on his coach while hitting the scales with only a few minuets remaining began circulating.
When asked about the ordeal, the Liverpool native couldn’t ignore it but didn’t see any harm in the offence.
“Obviously I’ve seen it, everyone has been sending me it,” said Till. “Listen if he did or he didn’t, it doesn’t matter to me. To me I’m not looking into it. I couldn’t give two f*cks. It’s a fight. It doesn’t change my world in any way. I’m here for what’s fair and to take what’s mine fairly. I don’t want no money, I just want to fight.”
On Tuesday the UFC notified the media that Darren Till’s arrival to New York would be delayed due to travel. It was later reported that Till had been facing visa issues.
After Till arrived Thursday, there was concern that the weight-cut could become an issue as a result of air travel. Gastelum expressed that same sentiment during Thursday’s UFC 244 media day but Till responded by being in the first group to weigh in and came in at 186 pounds.
“I’ve been on fire. I’ve had a training week, I’m happy with the cut and the week. I’m so happy,” Till proclaimed. “This week I was just chilling. Nobody was waking me up, I was waking up when I wanted to. Going to bed when I wanted, just enjoying life. The only problem if there was going to be one is the energy levels and retaining water coming off the flight. The doctor looked at me and he can tell I was retaining water and he could tell—he wanted me to drink. Push the salts out but I just pushed through it. The last kilo was a little bit of a struggle and by that I mean an extra 10 minutes in the sweat.”
“I could show those videos of when I was struggling at welterweight. I matured myself as a human and a fighter instead of absolutely killing myself trying to get to a weight that was just not possible anymore,” Till added.
The former welterweight contender’s weight cutting chronicles were much discussed among fans as well as pundits, and much to his advantage considering the late arrival to the big apple, Till will be making his debut at middleweight and doesn’t envision a return to 170 pounds.
“I’ve started at welterweight and wanted to finish but it just wasn’t possible. Every fight there was more weight and obstacles and I couldn’t do it anymore. It’s mad.”
Darren Till faces Kelvin Gastelum in the co-main event at UFC 244 on Saturday, November 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
