Darren Till Edges Out ‘Wonderboy’ in Tactical Battle at UFC Liverpool

Darren Till celebrated the biggest win of his career in front of a hometown crowd in Liverpool despite some controversy in the final scorecards.

Till earned a unanimous decision victory over former two-time title contender Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson after five rounds in what was largely a battle of position over five rounds.

As the fight got underway it appeared that Thompson and Till were both being a bit cautious not to over extend and leave an opening for the other to take advantage.

Unfortunately that strategy dominated the biggest part of four rounds with Till constantly stalking forward without landing any real damaging shots while Thompson was firing back with counter punches and kicks.

Thompson seemed to land the stiffer punches throughout, including a pair of stiff straight shots in the third round that snapped Till’s head back. Till’s most effective strikes came from his leg kicks that put a sizable bruise on the back of Thompson’s leg.

Till finally found an opening for his biggest shot of the fight when he tagged Thompson in the fifth round, dropping him down to the canvas. Till quickly followed up trying to get the finish but Thompson recovered quickly before resetting in the middle of the Octagon.

When the fight was over, the judges scored the fight 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47 all in favor of Till, who picks up a win over the No. 1 ranked welterweight contender.

While it probably wasn’t the performance he wanted, Till still got the job done after a tumultuous week in Liverpool that saw him miss weight on Saturday before stepping into the main event on Sunday.

Regardless of the weight cut or the controversy surrounding the final decision, Till still leaves as a winner as he positions himself for a huge fight later this year as he looks to establish himself as a title contender in the very near future.