Darren Till knows exactly what it takes to defeat Donald Cerrone having done just that in Poland two years ago and says that Conor McGregor appears poised for a similarly emphatic performance against the man known as 'Cowboy'.
Liverpool native Till captured the attention of the world's mixed martial arts community with a one-round shellacking of the popular Cerrone in the headliner of a UFC event in Gdansk and writing in long social media post on Friday, he says that McGregor is more than capable of taking advantage of the same advantages that he did against the American fighter.
Also on rt.com 'He can turn right around and fight Khabib': Dana White confirms Conor McGregor on standby to fight Nurmagomedov at UFC 249Till, who like McGregor fights from the southpaw stance, flummoxed Cerrone early in their fight with a barrage of inventive attacks but it was his straight left which appeared to do the most damage.
And with the Irishman well-known for the formiddable potency of his own left hand shot, Till thinks that McGregor will make equally short work of Cerrone when they meet in the UFC 246 main event later this month.
"I’ve got Conor first-round TKO, feel like the occasion may just be too much for Cowboy," Till wrote on social media.
"But that’s just my opinion, Cowboy’s been around a lot longer than me and knows a hell of a lot more."
McGregor hasn't competed since losing by fourth-round submission to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 299 in October 2018 and hasn't recorded a win since he defeated Eddie Alvarez to claim the UFC lightweight title in November 2016.
Despite that absence, Till says he has seen enough to be of the opinion that McGregor will return at the top of his game - and rubbished talk coming from the Cerrone camp in which they suggested that McGregor has little more to offer than his infamous left.
"I cannot f*cking wait for Conor x Cowboy next week," Till wrote.
"Feels like the old Conor is back. Both are right up for this, Cowboy’s camp have more to be concerned with than just Conor’s left hand though.
"As a southpaw, it’s not the left hand. It’s the set-ups from the left hand, the spinning kicks, the feints, angles, etc. It all draws you onto the left hand. Also that’s just not what he brings! You don’t beat who he beat by just having a left hand."
Also on rt.com 'This is the best I've seen him': Coach John Kavanagh says Conor McGregor is in the form of his career ahead of UFC comebackTill, who now fights in the middleweight division, recently returned to winning ways by winning a decision against Kelvin Gastelum in New York in November to put an end to a two-fight skid in which he was beaten by both Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal.
Currently without an opponent, Till is expected to be among those in line to compete at the UFC's annual event in London in March. UFC 246, meanwhile, takes place on January 18.