“Pick a Number, Get in Line”: Israel Adesanya Shrugs Off Darren Till’s Chances for Title Shot Despite the Massive Win at UFC 244

Darren Till made a huge statement at UFC 244 with a victory over the former middleweight title contender, Kelvin Gastelum. He was coming from two devastating losses, and he was making his middleweight debut against one of the toughest fighters in the division. With all these adversities stacked up in front of him, Darren Till rose up to the occasion and fairly dominated Gastelum who was coming off an impressive fight against the current champion, Israel Adesanya. However, can this win alone present a title shot to Darren Till?

Well, according to the middleweight undisputed champion, Israel Adesanya it can’t. Although Adesanya was impressed with Till he does not see him as the next contender for the title. Adesanya claimed: 

“You can’t just rock up to the new weight class and then try challenge for the belt. You know what I did to get his belt. I fought 5 times in one year and I had a hell of a fight against a tough Mexican, smashed him, beat him up, soften hi up for him. And I beat, defended my belt against the so-called undisputed champ. And I did what Yoel Romero could not do it in 10 rounds, I did it in 2.”

Israel Adesanya had a 5 round-war when he fought Kelvin Gastelum for the interim title. Gastelum even came close a few times to finish Adesanya in the early rounds. However, Adesanya dominated Gastelum in the final round to seal the victory that night. He also believes that he gave Till the blueprint to beat Gastelum in the process.

“I like the fight. I liked his distance control. I think he learned a lot from my fight with Kelvin. Cause I figured it out in the third round, what kelvin was doing to get close and I nullified that. because of what I have done, he had the homework already. So I gave him the answer.”

Israel Adesanya recognizes how huge the win is for Till who was coming off from two losses, but he believes there are fighters such as Paulo Costa, Yoel Romero, and Jared Cannonier who are more deserving of the title shot at the moment. As far as Till is considered, he needs to wait for his turn, Adesanya added:

“He(Darren Till) has some work to do. If he had fuc***ed up Gastelum and smashed him up in the first round, we can talk maybe. I was impressed by the performance with what he did, but yeah Pick a number, get in line.”