BKFC 94: Till vs Romero – Two UFC Title Challengers With a Shared History Collide in Bare-Knuckle

Till and Romero have both competed against some of the biggest names in combat sports and are now set to meet under the BKFC banner at BKFC 94 in Manchester.

Darren ‘The Gorilla’ Till has built a strong reputation across Muay Thai, kickboxing, boxing and MMA.

Starting out as a Muay Thai fighter, Till eventually reached the UFC, where he quickly established himself as one of Britain's biggest names in MMA.

Till challenged Tyron Woodley for the UFC welterweight title at UFC 228 and also faced Jorge Masvidal before moving up to middleweight, where he fought some of the division's biggest names, including Kelvin Gastelum, Robert Whittaker and Derek Brunson.

His UFC story eventually came to an end after his submission loss to Dricus Du Plessis in 2022, but Till moved into boxing, where his fighting career found a second life with Misfits Boxing.

He stopped Anthony Taylor at Misfits Boxing 20 before beating former UFC fighter Darren Stewart by unanimous decision at Misfits 21 and stopping Luke Rockhold at Misfits Boxing 22 at Manchester's AO Arena.

‘The Gorilla’ recently made his bare-knuckle debut at BKFC 90, where he stopped Aaron Chalmers in the second round.

Yoel Romero started his combat sports career in Cuba, becoming a decorated freestyle wrestler.

The ‘Soldier of God’ later moved to Germany, building an undefeated MMA record before attracting the UFC’s attention. He picked up wins over the likes of Lyoto Machida, Chris Weidman and Derek Brunson before facing Robert Whittaker twice.

Romero earned another title opportunity against Israel Adesanya at UFC 248 but fell short.

Since leaving the UFC, Romero has competed in Bellator, PFL and Dirty Boxing before moving into bare-knuckle competition, making his BKFC debut against Theo Doukas at BKFC 80.

Darren Till and Yoel Romero have taken very different routes through combat sports, but their careers have crossed paths several times.

Both have stepped into the Octagon with Robert Whittaker and Derek Brunson, while Luke Rockhold provides another connection between the two.

They have spent years fighting some of the same names without ever facing each other.

Now, after years of competing in the same combat sports circles, Till and Romero finally stand on opposite sides of the ring, without gloves.

Till returns to Manchester's AO Arena, the same venue where he stopped Rockhold in his final Misfits Boxing appearance.

With Liverpool less than an hour away, the fight also puts him back in front of a crowd close to home.

It gives ‘The Gorilla’ another opportunity to headline at a venue where he has already found success during his post-UFC career.

Across from him, ‘The Soldier of God’ brings decades of experience, having also competed at the highest level before making the move into bare-knuckle.

On September 26, those parallel careers will finally meet at BKFC 94.