UFC Veteran Darren Till Targeted for Karate Combat Debut in 2024

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship star Darren Till might grace the Karate Combat pit sometime next year, according to company president Asim Zaidi.

Till was granted his UFC release earlier this year on the heels of three consecutive losses. While “The Gorilla” revealed that he was still on good terms with the promotion, his future in MMA remains unclear.

A longtime muay thai practitioner, Till recently sounded dismissive of Karate Combat fighters, claiming he could beat anyone on the roster. The promotion’s 185-pound champ, Ross Levine, challenged Till in response, leading to the promotion courting the Liverpudlian regarding a title fight debut.

Zaidi recently revealed that Till’s title fight with Levine was originally being targeted for Karate Combat 43 on Dec. 15 in Las Vegas. However, that fell through and Levine will now defend his strap against UFC vet Sam Alvey. The card will be headlined by a rubber fight between former UFC champs Anthony Pettis and Benson Henderson.

However, Till’s clash against Levine is still very much in the works for sometime early next year.

“Darren Till is one of the top strikers in the game and so is our middleweight champion Ross Levine, so we’re very interested in making that fight,” Zaidi recently told Daily Star Sport. “We’d hoped to get the fight made for the Dec. 15 event in Las Vegas but we couldn’t get a deal finalized in time. We’ll return to negotiations in 2024 and hopefully get that fight made early in the new year. In the meantime, Ross faces another UFC veteran — Sam Alvey — at Karate Combat 43 on Dec. 15 on the card headlined by the trilogy rubber match between Anthony Pettis and Benson Henderson.”