Stephen Thompson clearly thinks he’s the superior striker to Darren Till.
There’s a lot of hype surrounding Darren Till heading into his welterweight bout with Stephen Thompson this Sunday at UFC Fight Night 130 in his hometown of Liverpool, England.
Despite only having one top-ten win to his name, Till is being groomed as the next star of the welterweight division, and many hometown fans will be expecting the Liverpudlian to live up to the hype against ‘Wonderboy’.
Thompson, however, is one of the most established contenders in the division and thinks Till is in for a rude awakening come Sunday afternoon.
The two-time UFC welterweight title challenger will aim to show ‘The Gorilla’ that there are ‘many levels’ to the game, and that one-top ten win over Donald Cerrone doesn’t guarantee success against the divisional elite.
“That’s what I’m out there to prove to the fans and everybody around the world. There are levels to this,” Thompson told Damon Martin MMAWeekly ahead of his bout with Till at UFC Liverpool. “I’m going to go out there and I’m going to do work. You’re going to see the level of that No. 1 and No. 8. UFC’s giving him a chance so I know he’s going to be coming prepared. Anybody in the UFC has a chance to knock you out. So I’m not going to take this guy lightly.
“I’m going to prove to everybody this is why I’m No. 1 and there are levels to this game.”
Till stormed into the top ten welterweight rankings with his first-round thrashing of Cerrone at UFC Fight Night 118, and many are expecting the 25-year-old prospect to stand and trade with Thompson at Liverpool’s Echo Arena.
Thompson, who is one of the most decorated strikers in the sport, holds KO wins over the likes of Johny Hendricks and Robert Whittaker. And, despite his matchup with Till being hyped as a battle of strikers, the highly-touted karateka believes Till will eventually shoot for the takedown.
“I know that pretty much everybody I face is going to wind up wanting to take me down eventually,” he said. “I know in some of Till’s earlier fights, he has tried to take people down. I know he prefers to stand up, which is something I want to do.
“He wants to prove he’s the better striker than me and that puts a smile on my face. I hope that’s his plan.”
UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Till takes place this Sunday, May 27 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England.