UFC middleweight Darren Till shared his opinion about the best grappler in the UFC. Surprisingly, Till didn’t mention his best friend Khamzat Chimaev.
In his 7 years time in the UFC, Darren Till mostly competed in the welterweight division. He climbed the ranks and had a title shot against Tyron Woodley in 2018. However, the 29-year-old got submitted in the second round. He moved up to middleweight in 2019 and has gone 2-1 since then.
Darren TIll is also a best friend and training partner of welterweight star Khamzat Chimaev. He can be seen accompanying Chimaev for his bout at UFC 273. However, Till doesn’t regard Khamzat Chimaev as the best grappler in the UFC.
During a short video that got spread online, ‘The Gorilla’ named Islam Makhachev as the best grappler he has ever seen. He explained why Makhachev is the greatest and wouldn’t stop praising him.
“Islam Makhachev, oh my god. Islam is possibly the best grappler, one of the best grapplers I have ever seen. Like, oh my God, that pressure on top. He doesn’t really punch you, just the pressure you see while he does with his shoulder and hips and like transferring his weight. Honest to God, phenomenal.” Till said.
Khamzat Chimaev is one of the best grapplers in the world. He won 10 of his 11 professional fights via finishes and is currently still undefeated. To think that Darren Till didn’t even mention his name is pretty surprising. Though, ‘Borz’ can be seen quite struggling in his last bout against Gilbert Burns in April.
Meanwhile, Islam Makhachev is trained by UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov himself. The 30-year-old is currently targeting Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight belt. He is 11-1 within the UFC and is ranked number four in the division. Makhachev is a Combat Sambo World champion in 2014 and has shown great performance with his grappling in the UFC.