Darren Till shares why he’s not fighting Jake Paul and reveals contract talks during a live interview.
Darren Till has called Jake Paul a “fraud” after Paul announced he’ll be fighting Cedric Doumbe, even though Till says they had already agreed to fight later this year.
On Monday, November 2, Paul revealed he’ll face Doumbe, a French MMA fighter and former kickboxer, at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on December 24. This will be Paul’s first fight since losing to Anthony Joshua in a tough sixth round. There had been rumors he might fight Darren Till instead.
When Paul said he was returning to boxing last month, Till was one of the fighters being talked about. Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), even confirmed talks were happening for a possible fight.
Since leaving the UFC after a submission loss in December 2022, Till has done well in other combat sports, with a big knockout win over Luke Rockhold in boxing and two wins in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, including a win against Yoel Romero last September.
Till wanted to boost his boxing career by fighting Paul and said “negotiations were going well” and they had “agreed” on a price before Paul announced the fight with Doumbe.
“I thought we were all good to go. I’ve been training with my coach for the past two weeks,” Till said angrily in the Ariel Helwani Show. “Then out of nowhere, this fight with Cédric Doumbé gets announced. I don’t think many people even know who he is.”
Till also criticized Paul and Bidarian, calling them “frauds” for wasting his time. He joked that Paul just wants to test his jaw against someone much lighter.
Usually, Paul picks opponents smaller than Till, who is 6’0” and weighs about 185-189 pounds. Doumbe, on the other hand, is 5’8” and usually competes at 170 pounds.
Paul’s fight with Doumbe will be an eight-round cruiserweight bout, with 10-ounce gloves. Doumbe is a multi-time kickboxing world champion turned MMA fighter signed with the PFL, an MMA league that merged with Paul’s MVP in July. So it makes sense they’re teaming up in the ring.
Since joining the PFL in 2023, Doumbe has won two of three fights but only has one professional boxing match from 2015, which he won. Meanwhile, Paul holds a pro boxing record of 12 wins and 2 losses, with defeats only to Tommy Fury and Joshua.