The smesh bros the name for the unusual but fun duo of Khamzat Chimaev and Darren Till. This team emerged around 2021/2022 where Chimaev and Till spent a lot of time with each other. This was primarily due to Till trying to improve as a fighter so decided to train at Allstars in Sweden Khamzat’s place of training at the time. Naturally due to training with each other the two would spend a lot of time with each other and become fast friends. The pair became inseparable and Till would even be in Khamzat’s corner for the Gilbert Burns.
However, by 2023 the pair were hardly ever seen together. Till going back to the UK to train and Khamzat becoming based in the U.A.E. Many suspected the reason for the separation is that Till was a bad influence and Khamzat’s team wanted him out. Till isn’t exactly known as a good influence with his losing streak in MMA. Recently on Twitter in the Space feature Khamzat Chimaev and Darren Till had a chat.
Khamzat and Till’s Conversation
Khamzat and Till had quite a lengthy conversation but the bit that is most interesting is the part regarding Till’s discipline and his influence on Khamzat. Till says “I still eat chocolate, I’m a fat boy. Am I a fat boy?” Khamzat agrees saying “You’ll always be fat boy, man”. They both laugh Till in particular. Till has generally always struggled with weight his cuts to 170lbs being notorious and him appearing overweight at 185lbs. So, despite the joke Khamzat may actually be somewhat serious.
Khamzat then says, “If you didn’t eat so much chocolate you could beat Du Plessis, man.” referencing Till’s fight with Dricus Du Plessis. That fight saw Till get dominated and beaten up by Dricus in the grappling being subbed in round 3. However, Till did have some moments on the feet striking particularly round 2. Stylistically Dricus wasn’t great for Till in terms of the grappling but with striking Till was doing well. And potentially if he had been more active with the strikes he may have been able to get Dricus out of there.
Till asked Khamzat, “How much chocolate did I used to eat? Tell everyone” and Khamzat joked, “Lets say, If Snickers knew how much you loved it they would give you percentage from them.” Both guys burst out laughing. Despite them joking this is a pretty damning indictment of Till’s diet for fight camps.
Till’s Bad Influence
Khamzat then said, “Bro, you got me fat man. Bro, when I met you first time I miss my weight man.” Here he references for how the scheduled Diaz fight at welterweight he missed weight weighing 178.5lbs. This caused the fight to be cancelled and resulted in Khamzat fighting Holland. Chimaev was always a big welterweight who did struggle making 170lbs so missing weight just from that is reasonable. But, Till’s influence could have contributed.
Till asked, “I made you miss weight?” being a bit confused. Khamzat replied with, “Before I met you I never missed weight. Yea of course brother, because you eat everyday chocolates brother. I couldn’t stop as well.” He is correct in the sense he did never miss weight prior to meeting Till being able to make 170lbs consistently. However, Chimaev is his own person and controls what he eats. But, having Till around and seeing his relaxed diet could have led him to slip contributing to the weight miss.
Khamzat then revealed something very interesting. He said, “You don’t have discipline bro, that’s why you not close to me now. Otherwise I took you here.” This reveals that the main reason they don’t hang around is Khamzat and his team view Till as undisciplined and a bad influence. Till did refute this saying, “I never ever ate chocolate around you.” prompting Khamzat to say, “Come on bro come on bro, don’t lie man. You drink beer everyday man”. Another damming reveal about Till drinking in camp.
Chimaev Tells Till to Stay Away
Till then says, “You’re at home? Send me location. I’m coming.” This then results in another interesting exchange. Khamzat says, ” No I’m in training camp bro, don’t come here brother. You’re gonna destroy everything man. Let me train bro. After the fight I can see you man.” He’s quite literally telling Till to stay away from him whilst in camp and that he’d have a negative impact. So Till’s impact must have been pretty severe for Khamzat not to want Till around given their friendship.
Till then asks, “What you mean destroy everything? Khamzat in sparring I beat everyone. Punch, punch, punch.” Khamzat dismissed it saying, “No you don’t beat anything. Who did you beat man? Last time time.” Another interesting reveal. Khamzat’s suggesting Till didn’t have much success when in his camp and team. Till doesn’t refute it but does say, “Khamzat, you know my striking is the best in the world. Don’t forget that.” Till does have good striking however his amount of output isn’t great and he’s always struggled with grappling.
Khamzat did acknowledge Till’s striking prowess but joked, “For one round, yeah.” and Till jokes “Yeah, because I get tired and I eat some cheeseburgers.” They both then crack up laughing. Although it was relatively light hearted this conversation did reveal why the smesh bros broke up. Till’s lack of discpline was impacting Khamzat so he and his team decided to cut Till out of Khamzat’s life.
Khazmat Chimaev will fight Robert Whittaker on UFC 308. There we shall be able to see how training without Till has benefitted Chimaev. Since splitting up Chimaev fought once against Usman in a bit of a lacklustre performance. He had an excellent round 1 however rounds 2 and 3 not so much. However, Khamzat did injure his right hand in that bout and Usman was a short notice replacement. So, know we shall hopefully see Khamzat fight Whittaker in ideal conditions to determine the number 1 contender at middleweight.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
