Darren Till‘s boxing debut against Mohammad Mutie at Social Knockout 3 turned chaotic when Mutie, after complaining of a punch to the back of the head, incited a brawl that led to Till winning by second-round TKO and later calling Mutie a “coward” for his actions.
Darren Till couldn’t believe what he was watching on Saturday in his combat sports return.
The one-time UFC title challenger competed for the first time since December 2022. He made his boxing debut in a four-round exhibition match against Mohammad Mutie at Social Knockout 3. While Till ultimately emerged victorious, that wasn’t the biggest story. Instead, a bizarre scene unfolded after Mutie complained of a punch to the back of the head midway through the second round, leading to a chaotic brawl overtaking the ring.
“Mate, you’re an MMA fighter and you’re a fighter. This shit happens,” Till said Monday on The MMA Hour. “You’re rolling around on the floor for 20 minutes? Like, paramedics in there? And I’m just looking in disbelief, I’m like, ‘Is this really happening in my return?’ I just couldn’t believe it. I just think he wanted a way out. He felt my power in there; he knew I was finding my range. I was probably going to knock him out in that round.”
Till, 31, confirmed he inadvertently hit Mutie in back of the head during a punching exchange but remains baffled by the scene that followed.
After rolling around in seeming distress in the center of the ring, Mutie stood up and aggressively charged at Till. The Liverpudlian flicked out a left hand to keep Mutie at bay. Things quickly devolved from there with both teams rushing into the ring and kicking off a wild fracas. At one point, Mutie even wrestled Till to the canvas with a single-leg takedown. The contest was ultimately called a second-round TKO in Till’s favor.
“I’m just chilling,” Till recounted. “I’m just watching him on the floor, rolling around like this guy’s not a fighter; he’s just a coward.” Then he comes over to me saying, ‘I wanted to fight; the ref didn’t let me fight.’ I was like, ‘Mate, save it.’”
“I said, ‘I don’t want to hear it. No excuses—just jog on.’ And then he started shouting stuff and that,” added Till. “I said, ‘Mate, look—I think you’re a coward.’ And then he thought people were going to hold him back.” As he ran at me… well… I went back to my striking days.”
According to Till, both the promoter of the event and local police in Dubai called Mutie “a disgrace” for his behavior during the debacle. Someone even kicked him amid all that craziness! He’s not happy about it but hey—he emerged unscathed.
Till accepted this bout on a lark as means to get his feet wet in boxing after his July 20 bout with Julio Caesar Chavez Jr fell through. Now he’s choosing to look at his viral debut through lens of “all press is good press”—especially in fight game.
“You know what? The guy probably did us favor because look online,” said Till with some humor. “The whole world is talking about it—it’s good thing! Darren Till is always amidst some shite.”
“But shit happens mate,” continued Till nonchalantly. “I’ve been brawls all my life; chaos is nothing new for me! So yeah—it’s another day at office: got first [boxing] win… now big fights are coming!”
Among those potentially big fights? Mike Perry and Jake Paul top his list! He also floated fellow UFC veterans Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal as possible opponents for next outing.
Notably Diaz & Masvidal met too—Diaz winning by majority decision after ten rounds! That fight marked Masvidal’s first boxing match since ’05!
Of course—Till has history with Masvidal too: suffered knockout loss back ’19 under UFC banner…
But regardless where goes from here—one name surely won’t be facing next: “coward” Mutie himself!
“There was definitive winner mate—the guy rolled around for twenty minutes!” quipped Till when asked about rematch possibility… “He had five minutes fame—that’s all.”