Till Wants Perry, Turned Down $2M, and Sees Himself as the Face of BKFC

Darren Till is fighting without gloves this Saturday and if you think that's a step down from the UFC, you haven't been paying attention to what he's actually building.

The former UFC welterweight title challenger signed a multi-fight deal with BKFC. Conor McGregor is part owner of the promotion. Till makes his debut at BKFC 90 in Birmingham against Aaron Chalmers, the reality TV star from Geordie Shore who once went eight rounds with Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition and fought in Bellator.

"The reason Bare Knuckle happened is because I couldn't turn down the offer," Till told Yahoo Sports. "It was irrefusable. It excited me. It got my juices flowing."

The man is 33 years old, absolutely shredded, and talking about headlining stadiums in England for a bare knuckle promotion. This isn't a retirement tour. This is a reinvention.

Liverpool to Brazil at 17

Most people's Darren Till timeline starts with the UFC. It shouldn't.

Till grew up in Liverpool. Working class in a tough neighborhood. The kind of upbringing where you either find a gym or you find trouble. He found a gym at 12 years old and started training MMA. By the time he was 17 he'd made a decision that most adults wouldn't make. He moved to Brazil to train full time.

A 17 year old kid from Liverpool moving to Brazil alone to train mixed martial arts. No safety net or backup plan. Just a teenager who wanted to fight professionally and decided the best way to do it was to go where the best grapplers on the planet trained.

While he was in Brazil, he got stabbed twice outside a nightclub. Nearly died. Had to recover in a foreign country away from his family while still being a teenager. Most people would've gone home after that. Till stayed. Kept training. Turned pro in 2013 at 20 years old and started putting together the record that would get him to the UFC.

The UFC Run

Till debuted in the UFC in 2015 and the hype was immediate. He was big for welterweight. Powerful. His striking was crisp and his confidence was absurd for a young fighter. He beat Bojan Velickovic by decision. Knocked out Wendell de Oliveira. Then got a main event against Donald Cerrone in Poland and beat him by decision in a fight that put the whole division on notice.

2018 was the year everything peaked. He headlined UFC Liverpool against Stephen Thompson. The only UFC card ever held in Liverpool. His city. His people. He won by controversial decision and the arena nearly came apart. Three months later he was fighting Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title at UFC 228 in Dallas.

He lost. Woodley submitted him in the second round with a D'arce choke. The title shot came too early. He was 25 and the weight cut to 170 was destroying him. He nearly blinded himself draining water weight before the Woodley fight. His body was screaming at him to move up and he eventually listened.

At middleweight things got complicated. He beat Kelvin Gastelum in a razor close fight. Then lost to Robert Whittaker. Lost to Derek Brunson. Lost to Dricus du Plessis. Three straight losses at 185 and suddenly the hype was gone. The UFC wasn't going to keep pushing a fighter who was 1-3 in his last four.

Till bargained for his release in 2023. Left on his own terms. Didn't get cut. Asked out.

Misfits and Rockhold

After leaving the UFC, Till signed with Misfits Boxing. The influencer boxing promotion. For a former UFC title challenger that sounds like rock bottom but Till treated it like a proving ground.

He went 3-0. Beat Anthony Taylor by stoppage. Outpointed Darren Stewart. Then knocked out Luke Rockhold.

Luke Rockhold. A former UFC middleweight champion. The man who held the belt at 185 pounds. And Till stopped him in a boxing ring. That win silenced a lot of the "he's washed" talk because Rockhold may not be in his prime but stopping a former world champion in any combat sport still means something.

After the Rockhold KO, Till had options. He could've gone back to MMA. He could've stayed in Misfits. He could've chased a boxing career. Instead he signed with BKFC and said he's ready to fight without gloves.

Why Bare Knuckle

Here's the part that makes Till's decision interesting instead of just weird.

"The guys in the BKFC, they're no f***ing pushovers," Till told SI. "Bare-knuckle is the bottom of what real fighting is. No gloves and stuff like that."

He sees it clearly. BKFC is growing fast in the UK. Conor McGregor's involvement brings eyeballs and money. The promotion needs a face in England and Till is positioning himself to be that guy.

"I want to bring the BKFC massive to England, and obviously I can be a big name that carries it, along with Conor."

That's not someone treating bare knuckle as a last resort. That's someone who watched Perry build a whole brand in BKFC, watched Conor invest in the company, and decided he'd rather be the face of a growing sport than a mid-tier name in a sport that already has too many of those.

The Perry Fight Is the Target

Till wants Mike Perry badly.

Perry just destroyed Nate Diaz on the Netflix card. He's the self proclaimed King of Violence in BKFC. And Till has been calling for the fight since before he even signed his contract.

"I'll stay around the bare-knuckle until it happens," Till told MMA Fighting. "So if I have to take 10 fights to get to the Mike Perry fight, that's what's going to happen, isn't it?"

But here's the thing that says Till is serious about this and not just chasing a payday. BKFC reportedly offered him $2 million to fight Perry immediately for his debut. He turned it down. Said he wanted to work his way up. Get comfortable fighting without gloves. Learn the sport properly before jumping into the biggest fight available.

A fighter turning down $2 million because he wants to be prepared is the opposite of what you'd expect from someone desperate for a paycheck. That's a man building a career in bare knuckle, not a tourist passing through for one big check.

Saturday in Birmingham

BKFC 90. Utilita Arena Birmingham, England. On May 30.

Till fights Aaron Chalmers in the co-main event. Chalmers is 5-2 in bare knuckle and 3-2 in MMA through Bellator. He's a reality TV star but he can actually fight. He went eight rounds with Mayweather. He's won his last two in BKFC. And he said himself that this fight is bigger than the Mayweather one because "Till is relevant."

For Till, this is about proving the transition works. He's been training exclusively as a boxer for three years since leaving the UFC. He's in the best shape of his life. The photos from training camp have him looking like he did at welterweight minus the near-blindness from cutting water.

The Till career path reads like a downward spiral if you just look at the names of the promotions. UFC to Misfits to BKFC. Each one sounds less prestigious than the last. But if you look at what he's actually doing it's the opposite. He's going 3-0 in boxing, stopping a former UFC champion, signing with a growing promotion that has McGregor's backing, turning down $2 million because he wants to do it right, and targeting the biggest fight in bare knuckle against Perry.

That's not falling. That's repositioning.

"I've still got it," Till said after looking at himself in the mirror during camp. "I can look at myself and know."

Saturday he finds out if bare knuckle agrees.

Thanks for riding with CageLore. Stay locked in!

Frequently Asked Questions

When does Darren Till fight in BKFC?

Till makes his bare knuckle debut at BKFC 90 on Saturday, May 30, 2026 at Utilita Arena in Birmingham, England. He faces Aaron Chalmers in the co-main event.

Who is Aaron Chalmers?

Chalmers is a reality TV star from MTV's Geordie Shore who transitioned into combat sports. He is 5-2 in bare knuckle fighting and 3-2 in MMA through Bellator. He went eight rounds with Floyd Mayweather in a January 2023 exhibition bout.

What was Till's UFC record?

Till went 6-6 in the UFC across 12 fights from 2015 to 2022. He fought Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title at UFC 228 in September 2018 and lost by submission. He also headlined UFC Liverpool, the only UFC event ever held in Liverpool.

Why did Till leave the UFC?

Till bargained for his release in 2023 after going 1-3 in his last four fights at middleweight. He was not cut. He requested his release and left on his own terms to pursue boxing opportunities.

Does Till want to fight Mike Perry?

Yes. Till has publicly said Perry is his main target in BKFC. He turned down a reported $2 million offer to fight Perry immediately because he wanted to work his way up and learn bare knuckle properly first. He said he'd take 10 fights to get to Perry if necessary.

Is Conor McGregor involved with BKFC?

Yes. McGregor is a part owner of BKFC. Till has said he wants to grow the promotion in England alongside McGregor.