'You can't see': Disturbing video shows UFC fighter's desperate attempt to cut weight
Alarming footage has been released of MMA star Darren Till’s dangerous and failed weight cut ahead of a recent UFC fight.
The 25-year-old Englishman can be seen running on a treadmill, boxing and taking sessions in the sauna in the vision, all while wearing a sweat suit, designed to maximise water loss.
The video claims that on Friday, Till had 5 kilograms to lose ahead of his Saturday afternoon weigh-in.
In a cruel twist for the MMA star, the dangerous weight cut ended up being all in vein as he weighed in 1.6kgs over the 77kg limit for his welterweight fight.
LIVERPOOL STAND UP!!!@DarrenTill2 gets the decision at #UFCLiverpool pic.twitter.com/QSPYnINPcB
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 27, 2018
Till was forced to give up 30% of his purse after winning his home-town fight at UFC Liverpool against American Stephen Thompson.
Darren Till jumps to No. 2 in the UFC welterweight rankings this week.
He's apologized time and again for missing weight but the reality is the punishment he faced (30% of his purse) doesn't seem that bad compared to where he's sitting at welterweight now.
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) May 31, 2018
And Till might just be happy to be alive, given the torture he endured in his weight cut.
In one shocking moment towards the end of his weight cut, Till can be seen pleading with his coach to continue running, despite collapsing on the treadmill only moments earlier.
“I want to run,” Till said, while lying exhausted on a mattress.
“I don’t think you can run after that, you can’t see can ya,” his coach replies.
A scary revelation from his coach, but apparently things only went downhill from there as the weigh-in approached, with cameras forced to cut recording as Till strived to cut the final kilogram of weight.
“Out of respect for Darren, no more filming was done that morning,” text on the video read.
This is an incredibly disturbing video, and this is just what is being made public. Imagine what isn’t being shown. Weight cutting continues to be the biggest (and scariest) issue in the sport. https://t.co/ZgXodViWNu
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 31, 2018
Weight cutting is not a new issue in the UFC, with many experts fearing it will take the death of a fighter to prompt serious action from the company.
Already, many on Twitter were calling for the UFC to react to the video by changing their policies around weight divisions and cutting.
Darren Till's weight cutting video is scary, but I doubt the UFC does anything about it. The footage of Cris Cyborg's attempt to make 140 was brutal and nothing happened.
— Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) May 31, 2018
Have a hard time believing fighter health and safety is the top priority for the UFC and athletic commissions after watching that Darren Till video. The culture needs to change.
— Trent Reinsmith (@TrentReinsmith) May 31, 2018
(VIDEO) A behind the scenes look at Darren Till's weight cut last week. It's a must watch. According to this video, during the morning of the weigh-ins, he had to stop on the treadmill, due to loss of sight. https://t.co/mbCmvhQFIA
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) May 31, 2018