A striking war for the ages.
Darren Till, age 25, is one of the hottest prospects in the UFC. The British striker is coming of of a white hot first round KO of Donald Cerrone at UFC Fight Night 118 in October 2017. He will face former title challenger Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson in his hometown of Liverpool, at UFC Liverpool on May 27.
Till is undefeated through seventeen professional fights. After being raised in British boxing gyms, he took a pilgrimage to Brazil to begin his adult life training as an elite Muay Thai artist. He is an enormous southpaw, and struggles to make weight. Interestingly, his elite striking has only yielded 2 UFC knockouts.
Beyond the transatlantic accent and the southpaw stance, Till’s personal charisma has drawn many comparisons to Conor McGregor. One difference is in temperament, as Till is noticeably less cocky, and says he wants to fight everyone in his weight-class. Regardless, the UFC is catapulting strait him to the top against Thompson, in a fight that could be the birth of an enormous British star, or leave fans repeating the age old adage that ‘hype doesn’t win fights.’
Thompson (14-2-1) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 217. Masvidal was also coming off an impressive KO of Cerrone. The 35-year-old Thompson is a karate counter-striker. This means that in fights with other counter fighters, he can be extremely dry. Till is an aggressive pressure fighter, but has also admittedly coasted to controversial decisions in several fights. Hopefully this fight turns out to be a tactical war and not a standoff.
In either case it could very well decide the #2 contender to Tyron Woodley’s belt.
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