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Darren Till on manifesting UFC-Liverpool headliner, not wanting to follow Colby Covington

Darren Till remembers watching Conor McGregor dismantle Diego Brandao at UFC Fight Night 46 and dreaming of a hometown triumph.

This past October, Till (16-0-1 MMA, 4-0-1 UFC) posted a picture of the Echo Arena in his native Liverpool, England, with the idea of manifesting such an opportunity.

Via Instagram: 

Instagram Photo

Today, the UFC announced Till as the headliner of UFC Fight Night 130, which takes place May 27 at the aforementioned arena and airs live on FS1.

Via Twitter:

“I’ve made this happen,” Till told reporters today in London, which is hosting Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 127. “I’ve worked hard and believed in myself. They can jump on this hype train or jump off it. I couldn’t care less. I’ve done all this.”

So now that undefeated Till has manifested a time and location, he’s getting to work on an opponent. The desired candidates are no easy marks – and not easy to book, apparently.

“For now, I’ve asked for Robbie Lawler (and) Jorge Masvidal – I know they asked him, and he wasn’t fit enough,” Till said.

Lawler (28-12 MMA, 13-6 UFC), though, is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in his previous fight, while Masvidal (32-13 MMA, 9-6 UFC) also is recovering from an injury.

Another possibility is Stephen Thompson (14-2-1 MMA, 9-2-1 UFC), who was actually scheduled for a fight on Feb. 24 before he was ruled out due to a hand injury.

As of late January, Thompson was unable to make a fist, but he hoped to be ready by late March or April. The two-time title challenger told BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor that he is back in the gym and could be ready for May 27 if offered the fight.

Via Twitter: 

“He’s such a good striker,” Till said of Thompson. “He’s intelligent. He’s not a brawler. It’s well thought-out, the process of his fighting. Mine’s the same. I know I can outsmart him. I don’t want to beat him over five rounds. I want to knock him out. I want to devastate his life.”

Till also could face Gunnar Nelson (16-3-1 MMA, 7-3 UFC). The two were briefly linked to a headliner at UFC Fight Night 127 before Nelson’s rep and Till shot it down. Then there’s Colby Covington (13-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) and Kamaru Usman (12-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC), who’ve rocketed up the rankings over the past year.

“I haven’t rejected any fights,” Till said. “People say the Gunnar fight in London, and many names got put forward, and I wasn’t ready. I don’t know (about my opponent) and don’t really care any more.”

What drives Till these days is the opportunity to clean the division of all its talent, regardless of whether or not he loses his nearly unblemished record in the process. Although he notes other welterweights are interested in climbing the ranks as fast as possible, he views a quick title shot as a sign of disrespect to the champion.

“If I beat ‘Wonderboy,’ I’m still not going to get on the mic and ask for that title,” Till said. “It’s probably unlikely, because I want to prove I’m the best. I don’t want to do a Colby Covington and just beat a few guys and get to the title, because he knows he’s not good enough.

“I want to beat them all, and sit there with the title and think, ‘Who’s coming? Who can beat me?’ I don’t want a fast road to the title. I want to prove I’m the best. And if along the way I get beat, then so what.”

Till can promise that whatever the outcome of his next fight, he will drive the arena into the same frenzy he saw four years ago in Dublin when McGregor did his victory lap. He predicts a 60-second sellout and a loud crowd.

“They’re going to see the complete Darren Till,” he said. “They’re going to see everything in the next 10 weeks.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 130, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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