Darren Till’s debut in the sweet science was a memorable one, for all the wrong reasons.
On Saturday, the former UFC title challenger competed for the first time since exiting the MMA promotion, on the dubiously-named Social Knockout 3 card in Dubai.
Facing a little-known mixed martial artist in Mohammad Mutie, who somehow fits the “influencer” checkbox with a whopping 27K followers on Instagram, Till was the heavy favorite. And the British star came away with a TKO win, though not before a brawl erupted, complete with a takedown, after he landed to the back of the head on Mutie.
Mutie’s reaction was almost comically delayed, but the ref nevertheless gave him time to regroup. When the bout was waved off, Mutie then lunged at Till, firing a kick, while the commentary team exclaimed that “a fight just erupted in the middle of the cage!” The respective teams then flooded the ring (not a cage), with a few moments of chaos reigning before things sorted themselves out.
Video footage can be found below (h/t MMA Junkie).
Darren Till's boxing match in Dubai ends in a brawl 😳
🎥 @ExSportsToken pic.twitter.com/92R2AkISqW
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) July 6, 2024
Given the lack of hype heading into the event, the brawl might actually work in the card’s favour, as much of a black eye as it is. Till was originally supposed to make his boxing debut against a far more legitimate opponent in Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., but the match was called off when Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson was postponed. Till vs. Chavez Jr. had been slated in on that fight’s undercard.
Till last fought in MMA in December of 2022, when he was submitted by Dricus Du Plessis – who now holds middleweight gold with the company.
