Darren Till wants to prove the doubters wrong again.
At UFC Liverpool, Darren Till scored a unanimous decision victory over two-time title challenger Stephen Thompson. The 25-year-old held his own against ‘Wonderboy,’ but the fight wasn’t without its controversy.
Firstly, Till came in heavy. He weighed in 3.5 lbs over the non-title fight welterweight limit. Till revealed that his pregnant girlfriend was unexpectedly admitted to hospital during his weight cut. Although he has said this is no excuse for missing weight, compassion dictates its more valid than most.
The scoring of the fight also had people up in arms. It was an incredibly tense bout with a very low output, one that could have swung either way. However, the vast majority of media members scored the fight in favour of ‘Wonderboy’. This opened up the whole ‘hometown decision’ debate as well as questions over the impact of the crowd on the adjudication.
Hard to argue #UFCLiverpool https://t.co/lQa5n7i4Qt
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 28, 2018
Run it back
One man who believes the location of the fight had an impact on the result is the man whose hand wasn’t raised in the main event. Thompson explained on the MMA Hour that he feels if the fight had happened anywhere else, he probably would have got the nod from the judges.
“I know close fights are very hard in the moment. But there seems to be a lot of that happening recently. I think so (I would have won if the fight wasn’t in Liverpool). I really do, I think so. Darren is definitely a tough guy, man. He’s a very confident person. Definitely built for the fight game. And yeah, I think I would win that fight.”
What an attitude https://t.co/NsLjILpNuD
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 28, 2018
In a later appearance on the show, Till made it clear that he was more than happy to oblige. If Wonderboy is fit and ready to do a rematch, he’s willing to do it ‘as soon as possible’. And just to remove any doubt over the result of it goes the distance again, he’ll run it back on US soil.
“I know Stephen said he needs to check his knee and that, but you’ve got all these experts out here saying this, saying that because it was in Liverpool. If anyone wants me to America and fight Stephen again, Stephen definitely wants it and he’s not injured, I can do that as soon as possible. That rematch.”
“Obviously, there are other guys that I want to fight as well. but let’s show all these critics. It’s probably going to be the same fight, definitely going to be the same outcome again. Maybe I can be more aggressive and knock him out this time. You’ll see. That’s what I’m thinking.”
A nice gesture from Till. However, one must remember that there are plenty of incompetent MMA judges stateside. Moving the location of the fight isn’t a guarantee that it will be scored fairly.
