UFC London: Darren Till not focused on Ben Askren; only set on Jorge Masvidal

Steven Muehlhausen

UFC London: Darren Till not focused on Ben Askren; only set on Jorge Masvidal image

When Ben Askren's trade from One Championship to the UFC became official in October, "Funky" immediately took to Twitter and unleashed a tirade of tweets towards fighters in the 170-pound weight.

Fellow welterweight Darren Till took the bait and the charismatic welterweights began exchanging a flurry of insults.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About five months later and Till is well aware that Askren will be in attendance to see him fight Jorge Masvidal as the main event of UFC London on Saturday. But don't even try to suggest that Till will be concerned with Askren.

"I don’t give a f—k what people think," Till told Sporting News. "It’s their opinion. I know what I’m focused on. I’m not focused on Ben Askren, (welterweight champion Kamaru) Usman, (Tyron) Woodley or Leon Edwards. I only care about beating Masvidal on Saturday. To me, that’s my biggest challenge right now."

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Askren made his UFC debut at UFC 235 when he beat Robbie Lawler by a controversial first-round submission. After the fight, he said the UFC was sending him to London to check out Saturday's fight so he could get a first-hand look at Till. 

The two haven't bumped into each other thus far. Regardless of the banter between the charismatic welterweights on social media, the 26-year-old says if Askren truly has an issue with him that the former Bellator champion needs to make the first step — not him.  

"Ben has definitely gotten my attention, but it still doesn’t mean much to me," Till proclaims. "I’ve got nothing to say to Ben. He’s got to say something to me. I haven’t seen him yet. When I do see him, will he say something? Will he shake my hand? Will he say nothing? Or does he stay quiet? Will he actually say something? I have to wait and see what his move is. It’s him doing the talking. Not me."

Before the verbal warfare can turn into a battle inside the Octagon, Till faces a very stern test in Masvidal (32-13), who is coming off narrow losses in his last two contests against Demian Maia (split-decision at UFC 211) and Stephen Thompson (unanimous decision at UFC 217). Earlier this week, Masvidal told SN to expect an intense battle that won't last five rounds. Till couldn't agree more with his foe's assessment. He looks forward to exchanging heavy artillery with the former street fighter from Florida.

"It makes sense to have two guys who come to fight," Till said. "What’s not to like about it? It’s a crowd-pleasing fight. The UFC knows that, I know that and Masvidal knows that. It made all the sense in the world. I really love this matchup. He knows his way around the Octagon better than anyone in the division. I think it’s going to make for a war. It’s not going to be two guys staring at each other and doing nothing."

Steven Muehlhausen

Steven Muehlhausen Photo

Steven Muehlhausen is a contributing writer for DAZN News. He writes features and news stories, and provides analysis relating to the world of boxing. Over the past five years, he has interviewed some of the biggest names in combat sports, including Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Terence Crawford, Vasiliy Lomachenko and Bill Goldberg.