Darren Till Grinds Out Decision Win Over Yoel Romero at BKFC 94
The former UFC title challenger played a patient chess match against the dangerous Cuban in Manchester.
Darren Till earned a decision victory over Yoel Romero at BKFC 94 in Manchester, surviving five rounds of bare-knuckle boxing against one of the most dangerous men in combat sports history.
Till took a cautious, tactical approach against the 49-year-old Cuban, refusing to engage in the kind of wild exchanges that have defined many BKFC headliners. The Liverpudlian kept his distance, picked his spots, and let Romero's aggression come up short for most of the fight.
"If I had got bored and listened to the crowd and lunged in, I'd have got caught and dropped," Till said after the fight, per LowKick MMA. "I had to play the chess match."
Till compared the fight to Romero's 2020 UFC bout against Israel Adesanya, another tactical affair where both fighters neutralized each other's best weapons. He acknowledged that over an 18-year career, these kinds of strategic fights are sometimes what the moment demands.
The win is a significant one for Till's bare-knuckle career. Romero, despite being nearly 50, remains a terrifying opponent in any format. The Cuban's power translates to bare-knuckle in a way that makes reckless engagement a losing proposition, and Till showed enough discipline to avoid that trap.
The result won't satisfy fans who tuned in hoping for a war, but Till made the smart play. In bare-knuckle boxing, one clean shot from Yoel Romero can end your night and potentially your career.
Look, I get why people are going to complain about this fight. You pay to see Darren Till and Yoel Romero throw hands without gloves and you get a chess match. But anyone mad at Till for fighting smart against Romero has never been hit by a man who could knock out a horse.
Till did the only thing that makes sense against Romero at any age. You don't trade with that man. You don't stand in the pocket. You make him miss, you score when you can, and you take the W home. Adesanya did the exact same thing in the UFC and nobody questioned his fight IQ for it.
The bigger question is where BKFC goes from here with both guys. Till showed he belongs at this level. Romero at 49 is still a draw, but how many more of these does he have in him? If BKFC is smart, they book Till against someone who'll engage and give the fans the action they wanted Saturday night.
