Colin Heron, the head coach of Darren Till, has confirmed his pupil entered his UFC Vegas 36 main event against Derek Brunson with a completely torn ACL.
After the event, Michael Bisping revealed Till fought with a torn ACL which caught many by surprise. However, Heron has confirmed that was the case and initially he didn’t want Till to fight.
“It happened about nine weeks out, wrestling,” Heron told ESPN about Till. “We got it scanned, looked at properly. The results came back as a completely torn ACL. So, he’s out, isn’t he? That was the advice from me and the doctors. Rest. You can’t do nothing. Surgery is a must. No running, no fast movement, no impact.
“Darren being Darren, he said, ‘Can we give it two weeks and see if I can start running and hit pads?’ And I’m like, ‘No, not really. A torn ACL doesn’t get better by itself,” Heron continued about Till. “You’re talking surgery and then six months of rehab alone.’ But before you know it he’s talked me into it, as he does. I’ve really only got one option then: support him, whatever his decision is. If he’s not going to take my advice, I’ve got to stick with him. I can’t disown him. We made the best of it that we could.”
Despite the fact, Darren Till convinced his coach to let him fight, Heron said this is not an excuse for the result. Instead, he says it was a risk that didn’t pay off but Heron understands why Till fought.
“You can’t criticize his bravery, you can only criticize the decision — the gamble that didn’t pay off,” Heron said about Till. “A lot impacted this. He hadn’t fought in a while. Then next thing we know, a card was built around him. The rumor was it was going to be in London, and if there was no Till in the main event, there might not be a card at all. He had teammates who wanted to fight on that card. That’s a lot of pressure. He’s one of those guys who says, ‘F— it. Let’s do it.'”
