Darren Till found out he wasn’t fighting Jake Paul the same way the rest of us did, and he responded in about four seconds. Once it became official that Paul will box Cedric Doumbe on December 24 at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, Till went straight to X and wrote “Absolutely terrified,” followed by a laughing face, a thumbs up and a rat. He tagged Paul. He also tagged Nakisa Bidarian, the co-founder and CEO of Most Valuable Promotions, which is a nice touch if your goal is making sure the message reaches every inbox in the building.
Bloody Elbow first reported Till’s reaction, and MMA Fighting summed up the mood on X by noting that Till is not impressed with the matchup.
The annoyance makes sense once you look at the timeline. Till’s name was on the list of potential opponents for Paul’s return just last week, and Bidarian told The Sun Sport that Till was “definitely” one of the fighters they had been talking to about a Paul fight in December or early next year. Till had been publicly pushing for the deal, saying recently that he was waiting on his contract and telling Paul to hurry up and get it done. Then his social media posts started hinting that talks between the two camps had gone quiet. Now we know why.
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Doumbe was a surprise pick. Very few people had the French kickboxer penciled in for The Problem Child’s boxing comeback, even though his striking credentials are legit. He built himself into one of the biggest names in kickboxing before moving over to MMA, and he was supposed to make his UFC debut until that run collapsed before it ever started. He landed in the PFL instead, where he has gone 2-1 across three fights. After taking his first MMA loss, he rebounded by stopping Jaleel Willis, but that was in May 2024, and he hasn’t fought since. So Paul’s December 24 opponent will be stepping in with more than two years of cage rust.
Till, the former UFC welterweight title challenger known as The Gorilla, gets left holding a callout and a rat emoji. He had the promoter’s own CEO saying his name in the press a week ago, and now he’s watching another guy get the Dubai date.
My take: Till had every reason to fire off that rat, and I’d have used two. A Paul vs. Till fight sells itself on the press tour alone, with a trash-talking Scouser who’s spent weeks begging for a contract and a promoter who confirmed the talks to a British tabloid. Picking a decorated kickboxer who has been out of action since May 2024 is a legitimate fight on paper, and Doumbe can absolutely crack. But when the loudest guy on your list goes quiet on the negotiation side and the job goes to somebody nobody predicted, you’ve basically handed him the ducking accusation yourself. Paul and Doumbe meet December 24 in Dubai, and Till will almost certainly be posting through it.
