Darren Till has told the hilarious details behind his decision to call out Olympic silver medalist and UFC middleweight title contender Yoel Romero.
The 26-year-old picked up a much-needed win at UFC 244 by beating Kelvin Gastelum via split decision, and the Liverpool-born fighter took to social media to celebrate the win.
But in the heat of the moment, Till, while under the influence of a few beers, posted a picture of one of the most feared fighters in UFC.
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"Let's go Yoel Romero," he wrote on Instagram before expressing his regret a few hours later.
Weeks later and Till has told the full story in an interview with MMAUK.
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"I was blind drunk. Blind drunk." he admitted. "Yes, so my friend opened up a great bar in Liverpool, we got invited to the open and I was celebrating the win. I was with the guys and I said, I had a few beers and said watch this.
"So, I went onto google, I'll get an image of Yoel, cause he is a scary dude, I said I'll post that. He was like really bro? I said why not let's start a little controversy. So, I tagged him let's go and it just blew up.
"I remember the next morning I woke up and my girl was sat on the couch, because I slept on the couch, and she was like you called Yoel out.
"So, I went onto google and got the monkey eyes and told my guy to add when you wake up and realize you called out Yoel. Everyone knows when I'm going on a tirade on Twitter it is because I'm having a drink. It is never normal. I'm having fun."
Till initially wanted no part of Romero. "F**k that guy. I don't want to fight him," he said at the UFC 244 post-fight press conference.
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And now, to the relief of Till, it looks like a fight with Robert Whittaker is on the cards instead after the Aussie accepted his challenge.
Whittaker's tweet follows up his comments stating his interest in fighting Till in his first fight back since losing his UFC Middleweight title to Israel Adesanya in October.
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"I'm really interested in the Till fight," Whittaker said.
"I'd love to fight him in London, next year. We were talking about it today, a big part of fighting and doing what I do and being on the international stage is enjoying the ride.
"Enjoying the experience, enjoying traveling, going to new cities, going to new countries to fight. To work. To make a living. So I've never been to London, I'd love to go, I'd love to fight there, I'd love to fight Till. That's a good fight.
"It's not personal, but I want to fight in London, and he's kind of my ticket in there. So no offense Till, but let's fight in London. That'd be cool."
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Till's "absolute dream fight" however is to be square off against Adesanya at Anfield.
"I just think if we were to break Israel down, I think he's got the whole package," Till told SPORTbible.
"I think he's got the swagger, knows how to talk, he's an intelligent guy, he's a good-looking guy, he's smart - brilliant fighter, he's a showman. What more do you want from a guy like that?!
"That would be the dream fight - me vs. Israel. I think that would sell out a stadium and obviously look what it would bring to Liverpool. It would just be such a legacy changing fight. I think it'd unbelievable."
Featured Image Credit:Topics: UFC News, MMA News, Yoel Romero, UFC, MMA, Darren Till
