Mixed martial artist turned boxer Darren Till wasn’t slagging off any combat athletes with similar intentions during his Tuesday appearance on “The Ariel Helwani Show,” but he did make one thing abundantly clear to those considering the leap to the squared circle: There are levels in the sport.

And that, it seems, includes current UFC heavyweight champion – and Till’s British countryman – Tom Aspinall.

“The thing with boxing anyways – you need to understand this, right? – all of us MMA fighters, right, if we switch over, we go, ‘Well, I’ve done boxing,’” Till said in a segment on Helwani’s podcast.

“No you haven’t.”

Till, a 33-year-old from Liverpool, England, fought in the UFC from 2015 to 2023 and has a career 18-5-1 record in MMA. A former Muay Thai fighter, Till dipped his toe in boxing with Misfits in 2025 and made his full debut last August with a win over fellow former mixed martial artist Luke Rockhold. He announced on Tuesday’s spot with Helwani that he will make his BKFC (bareknuckle) boxing debut against Aaron Chalmers on May 30 in Birmingham, England.

Despite his growing (if modest) boxing resume, Till was clear about the distinction between striking in MMA and boxing.

“You’ve done boxing for MMA,” he said. “What does that mean? You’ve been in a wide stance, you don’t throw close-quarters shots... MMA and boxing are two completely different sports. They’re altogether – the movements, the head movement, the way you move, the way you step – it’s just so far away from MMA.”

Few MMA fighters have had success as boxers beyond fighting in entry-level matchups or against opponents from similar backgrounds. Nate Diaz, a fearsome MMA striker, lost to Jake Paul in his boxing debut. UFC great Anderson Silva edged faded former middleweight titleholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr – but later fell to the YouTuber Paul himself. Conor McGregor, near the peak of his considerable MMA powers, was dismantled by a 40-year-old Floyd Mayweather Jnr inside the ring. Former UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou, before being folded by Anthony Joshua in two rounds, enjoyed moments in his boxing debut against then-heavyweight champion Tyson Fury – whom he knocked down with a left hook – but Fury went on to sneak by with a contentious split decision. Ngannou, however, hasn’t competed in boxing since his limitations were exposed by Joshua in fight two.

Till said his eyes were opened when he entered a gym in which he was surrounded by boxing pros. But might the hard-swinging Aspinall – the current UFC heavyweight king from Salford, England, who is 15-3 overall in mixed martial arts and 8-1 in UFC competition – be the first to truly bridge the gap from MMA to boxing?

“You've got to start from the basics – the footwork, to how you use your job, to how you work inside and stuff like that,” Till said. “So I've seen Tom, but I've only seen Tom box for MMA. Can Tom box? Yeah. Will he be world heavyweight champion? Probably not. But if he makes a lot of money, who gives a fuck?”

Aspinall last month became the first client signed by Matchroom Talent Agency – a move that critics claim was designed by Eddie Hearn as much to get the goat of UFC boss and Zuffa Boxing’s Dana White as anything else. Aspinall himself has played down talk of his stepping between the ropes – though hasn’t completely ruled out the possibility somewhere down the line.

“Every one of these sports is just totally different,” Till said, emphasizing even the critical nuances that separate bareknuckle boxing from the Marquess of Queensberry rules. “So, yeah, Tom would have to see [for himself]. But he’s the [UFC] heavyweight world champion – who the fuck am I to give advice to?”