Darren Till will return to the boxing ring this weekend (Sat., Aug. 30, 2025) to face former Ultimate Fighting Championship Welterweight champion, Luke Rockhold, in the main event of the “Ring of Thrones” pay-per-view (PPV) event on DAZN inside AO Arena in Manchester, England.

According to “The Gorilla,” however, that was not the original fight that was lined up.

During a recent chat with MMA Fighting, Till revealed that he was actually set to face off against another one of his former UFC stablemates in Nate Diaz. As he tells it, it was Diaz who called for the showdown, and all signs pointed to it going down before the Stockton slugger flaked.

“Obviously, Misfits owed me a big fight, a pay-per-view fight, so obviously they have to come through with a big name, which obviously Nate Diaz [talked about a fight] and whatever,” Till said, “Then they come with Luke and I was happy with it.

“Luke, former Strikeforce world champion, former UFC world champion, you don’t get to them levels in this game without being a formidable opponent. So it’s like, I was very pleased. I was very happy with the matchup. I was extremely happy, I’m not going to lie,” he added, before explaining how a potential showdown against Diaz came about.

“Nate Diaz was the one that called the fight, he named the time, place, date, weight, everything,” Till said. “I just said, ‘yes’ because obviously he’s the bigger side. He’s the ‘A’ side, stuff like that. But, then he pulled out so I’m willing to fight any man.

“This is probably my downfall,” Till concluded. “I don’t see fighting as pick and choose. I should have done that more in my UFC career, but I’m just willing to fight. Whoever they put in front of me, obviously if it’s a big name, because they owed me a big named fight, I’m ready and willing.”

Speaking of Masvidal, Till revealed that a rematch against “Gamebred” — who knocked him out inside the Octagon more than six years ago, reigniting his career (see it here) — was also an idea he tossed around to matchmakers, though it never gained much traction.