Darren Till: I knew I’d lose some time – but I’ll be back

We all have to accept that at some stage in life we are going to get beaten, especially in our sport. You can’t go through this sport, and life, expecting it to be all one way traffic upwards. You’ll have your ups and you’ll have your downs.

Hopefully you’ll have more ups.

I wouldn’t even call this a down for me. It wasn’t the best outcome but I feel like I’ve learned from it. I feel like I know what I’ve done right and what I did wrong. I had a great training camp and the only thing I can say is that the better man won that night.

Sep 8, 2018; Dallas, TX, USA; Tyron Woodley (red gloves) fights Darren Till (blue gloves) during UFC 228 at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

I’m never going to use excuses. I haven’t watched the fight and I don’t need to. It’s just two rounds of Tyron pushing the pace and he caught me – that’s it. I came in too relaxed with the shot and it was a lovely counter. Do I believe he’s a better fighter? No. I believe fully I can beat Tyron Woodley but the better man won that night and all respect to Tyron.

I was really upset the night of the fight, really gutted, but I’m quite a level-headed guy. Training was perfect, my diet was perfect. The only thing I’d say is that the weight cut is a bit tough. It’s not an excuse, I was perfectly fit and perfectly strong and ready for five rounds.

The fight didn’t really get going and he caught me and that was it. The better man won. Bottom line.

My confidence hasn’t changed or taken a knock and I’ll tell you why; some guys when they’re on top think they can never get beaten and then when they do they then lose their confidence because it was never something they thought would happen to them, it’s a shock for them.

I always knew that at some point I was going to get beat.

When you look at all the greats, the Muhammad Ali’s, the Mike Tyson’s, the triple G’s, they’re all the best fighters to have ever fought but they also have losses on their record. Having those losses didn’t take away from them being the best.

Muhammad Ali had five losses. Does that mean he isn’t considered the greatest of all time? It certainly doesn’t and in my opinion he is and will always be the greatest of all time. I’m a very happy, content man at the moment and I’ll be back. You can guarantee that.