The fighter, who had been battling confidence issues before the bout, considered faking an injury moments before walking to the Octagon for his fight.
“Just to get in there tonight, I tell you,” Till said after the event (via Nolan King of MMA Junkie). “I was trying to fake an injury before walking out. I was thinking of an injury to fake because I just simply did not want to get in there. This is probably a thing fighters don’t talk about. But you know me and I’m honest. That’s just where I was at. Now, I’m here. Confidence is back. Like (expletive) all these middleweights. I’m coming for everything. It’s back.”
Till not only walked to the Octagon this past Saturday Night, but picked up his first win in the UFC Middleweight Division.
A victorious Till realized that he had everything under control after the first round of the bout against Gastelum was completed.
“Then the first round is over and I’m like, ‘Come on, pull yourself together. Now we’re going to win this fight the way we planned. We’re not gonna let him touch you and you’re going to win it,'” Till said. “I knew it was going to be hard to knock him out. I knew I had the power, but he’s a tough cookie. That’s just how it is. Fighters might not say it, but I’ll always say it. Whether it’s good or bad, I’ve been criticized in the past or whatever. That’s where I was at today as soon as I woke up.”
There is no word yet on what is next for Till, who ended a two fight losing streak with the win at UFC 244.
