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Darren Till says Luke Rockhold could have been 'a GOAT' in UFC, except for one fatal flaw
A pair of MMA fighters-turned-boxers headline "Ring of Thrones" August 30, live on DAZN PPV, as Darren Till faces Luke Rockhold for the inaugural Misfits bridgerweight title.
Till heads into the event the more experienced professional boxer of the two, having fought twice — and won twice — in previous X Series events so far this year. However, Rockhold enters his first pro boxing match having reached greater heights in MMA, as the 40-year-old is a former UFC middleweight champion.
It leads to an interesting question on the crossover boxing scene: How much does a fighter's experience in other combat sports help in the boxing ring?
Rockhold hopes it will be a big factor when he makes his debut in the sweet science, but Till is not convinced that his opponent's UFC accolades will do much for him when the fighters square off at the AO Arena.
In fact, Till questioned Rockhold's mentality as something that could hold him back, stating that it kept the former UFC champion from reaching his true potential in the octagon.
"I actually think Luke could have been a GOAT, like truly," Till said on Wednesday at a press conference. "What gets Luke in trouble is his ego, his pride, how vain he is, and all that stuff.
"When you put that together as a collective, psychologically, he fails at it."
Till pointed to Rockhold's unsuccessful title defence against Michael Bisping at UFC 199 as evidence that the American's overconfidence was his biggest downfall.
"Because of his pride and his ego, he felt like Bisping shouldn't have been in there with him and he got [smashed] because of it," Till said. "And that's what happens with Luke, his ego is too much. You can't have an ego like this in this game."
Rockhold unsurprisingly refuted the claim, but Till will get to test his theory in Manchester next month.
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