UFC Fight Island: Darren Till becomes the social media king of the UFC

UFC’s middleweight contender Darren Till has been training hard during the pandemic lockdown for his fight this Saturday against Robert Whittaker. 

During a recent interview, Till wouldn’t reveal the skills he has added to his repertoire for this fight but one aspect of his game is hard to ignore. 

The Liverpool fighter has become the social media King of the UFC.

“For the months everyone was locked up, everyone had bigger problems, and I just wanted to make my social media fun, and I think everyone enjoyed it,” he said.

Till specializes in photoshopping his face onto other opponents. His current Twitter handle is “Darren Bisping,” with Till’s face and Michael Bisping’s photoshopped together. 

“I’ve pretty much photoshopped my face on everyone, every fighter these days,” Till said. “It’s becoming quite a trend among fighters on social media.”

Darren began tweeting at the end of Nov 2019. He quickly began trolling other fighters.

“I was drunk in Manchester, and it just started,” Till said, laughing. “And I know Rob is a nice guy, so I know he wouldn’t take offense to it.”

“I think it’s great,” Whittaker said. “Honestly, I think me and Darren could be mates because he seems like my sort of cat.

“I think he’s a cool guy, and I’m stoked to fight him. He’s one of the guys I can’t wait to punch on, because I feel like between me and him, punching on each other will make us tighter. We’ll become better friends after.”

Whittaker is not as quick as Till to respond, Whittaker admitted. 

“He’s so on it, and so quick, I couldn’t keep up,” Whittaker said. “After I did one, and he came back straight on, it’s like I can’t jump him in his game, it’s too much.”

Till was asked to rate Whittaker’s ability to troll online. 

“Weak, very weak,” he said. “He’s slow to the ball, I’m quicker.”

“It just depends on the opponent,” he said. “If it’s an opponent like Rob, why not have fun. He’s very respectful. There’s no animosity there. I’m not trying to get in his head, whether I am or I’m not, I don’t think I am, to be quite honest. It’s just having a joke.

“But there are other times with certain opponents where it gets a little bit more heated, so it just depends on the fight and the person I’m fighting.”

Till mentioned the key to his social media game is authenticity.

“I just like to keep it fun and honest on social media,” he said. “I don’t try to be anyone I’m not. I don’t try to keep like a fake persona or anything, I just try to keep it interesting and fun.”

Till has one million followers on Instagram, but one follower stands out the most. 

“Gordon Ramsay followed me, the chef,” Till said. “He’s my No. 1 who follows me. He’s huge.

“And I speak to him quite a lot actually. He’s a cool guy.”