Darren Till’s next challenger in the squared circle may have emerged as his best friend’s old rival John Phillips.
The Welsh MMA star was Khamzat Chimaev’s first opponent in the UFC. And after hanging up his gloves, he has found a second life in BKFC with a massive second round stoppage in Dubai setting him up for a solid placement on Saturday night’s card in Birmingham.
He called his shot at Till during their pre-fight press conference on Thursday, with the popular Scouser set to take on Aaron Chalmers in the co-main event. And should both men record big wins, there is a real chance that they will get their shot.
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John Phillips details why he should fight Darren Till
During their UFC days, John Phillips never quite reached the heights of Darren Till’s world title challenging and top ten peak. But he always harboured the idea of fighting him, and now that they are on somewhat level footing in BKFC, he feels the time is right for a meeting.
Speaking exclusively with Bloody Elbow, the Welsh knockout artist explained: “I like Darren, I don’t know him but I’ve said hello to him a few times. I know and love Aaron, he’s a gentleman, and he’s a beast but he’s a 155lb fighter, not a 185lb.
“And really, Till isn’t a 185lb either, he’s a 205lb guy like me and that’s why he struggled in his MMA career trying to make the weight. So I’d love to fight Darren because I want to fight the big names because we are probably the biggest names in the division right now.
“I think it’s definitely an exciting fight that we need to see in the future… I think I would be a different kettle of fish to Aaron, who don’t get me wrong is a beast, but the size and strength are going to come into the equation.
“Anyone who knows fighting knows that, even though if you offered Aaron a fight at heavyweight he’d probably fight! We’re fighters, we’ll fight anyone.
“But I just think me and Till would be a great, exciting fight. So it will make sense if he comes away with a win and I come away with a win. Let’s get it on.”