Unbeaten British welterweight Darren Till had a golden opportunity to burst onto the UFC welterweight ranks when he fought longtime contender Donald Cerrone in the main event of today’s (Sat., October 21, 2017) UFC Fight Night 118 from the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland, but not many were giving him a shot against the feared veteran. […]
Unbeaten British welterweight Darren Till had a golden opportunity to burst onto the UFC welterweight ranks when he fought longtime contender Donald Cerrone in the main event of today’s (Sat., October 21, 2017) UFC Fight Night 118 from the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland, but not many were giving him a shot against the feared veteran.
However, Till did exactly what he predicted in the lead-up to the fight and dominated Cerrone from the opening bell (at least for a long as the fight lasted), blasting him with a vicious shot early followed by a stinging elbow that opened the floodgates for a brutal onslaught of ground shots that left referee Marc Goddard with no choice but to call the bout in the first round.
Till looked huge and overpowering, truly appearing to be the size of a middleweight, and it seemed like ‘Cowboy,’ who is now beginning to show the wear and tear of being perhaps the most active fighter in UFC history, was never truly in the fight at any point against the larger and younger “Gorilla.” The future looks extremely bright for the brash Brit all of the sudden, and he called out fellow surging young competitor Mike “Platinum” Perry in his post-fight interview.
There will be many match-ups discussed for Till in the stacked welterweight division in the coming weeks, and they should all present new and exciting bouts.
Now, it’s time for Till to enjoy his biggest-ever win in MMA by a longshot. Check out the combination that marked the beginning of the end for Cerrone here:
UFC traveled to Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland, on Saturday evening for a card jam-packed with head-turning tilts, and it was Donald Cerrone and Darren Till who shone in the main event as they battled for welterweight supremacy.
A women’s strawweight cla…
UFC traveled to Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland, on Saturday evening for a card jam-packed with head-turning tilts, and it was Donald Cerrone and Darren Till who shone in the main event as they battled for welterweight supremacy.
A women’s strawweight clash between Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Jodie Esquibel, meanwhile, headlined the co-main event.
Here’s a rundown of the evening’s results as well as a recap of the action.
Main Card Results
Darren Till def. Donald Cerrone via first-round TKO (punches, 4:20)
Andre Fili def. Artem Lobov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ramazan Emeev def. Sam Alvey via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Brian Kelleher def. Damian Stasiak via third-round TKO (3:39)
Marcin Held def. Nasrat Haqparast via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Recap
The night belonged to Till, and it wasn’t particularly close.
In a big spot against Cowboy Cerrone, Till lived up to the hype and justified his place in the welterweight division as he sent the 34-year-old packing with a power-packed performance that was buoyed by tactical superiority in all phases.
Bloody Elbow offered an overview of the dominant outing:
ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto noted Till stepped up with a chance to bolster his profile:
With the win in hand, Till understandably wasn’t short on confidence.
“I’m a f–king light heavyweight fighting in the welterweight division,” he said, per MMA Fighting(warning: NSFW language) on Twitter. “Look how powerful I am.”
Till also wasted no time in cutting an epic promo, as he called out Mike Perry—who was conveniently stationed ringside, as UFC showed on Twitter:
Fans should be ecstatic, too, because Perry didn’t hesitate to accept the 24-year-old’s challenge:
In other words, get your popcorn ready.
The early story on the main card revolved around hometown favorite Oskar Piechota, who maintained his undefeated record (10-0-1) with a thorough unanimous-decision defeat of Jonathan Wilson.
In control from start to finish, Piechota imposed his will against the American and sent him to the mat with a vicious right hand toward the end of Round 2, as UFC documented on Twitter:
Wilson was ultimately saved by the bell and battled to the finish in Round 3, but Piechota rode raucous energy from the Polish faithful to a victory on his biggest stage yet.
“The crowd took my level even higher tonight,” he said after the win, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal‘s Heidi Fang. “Without them it would have been a lot harder.”
Polish dominance continued in the ensuing bout, which pitted Jan Blachowicz against challenger Devin Clark in back-and-forth light heavyweight action:
But unlike Piechota, whom Wilson pushed the distance, Blachowicz stopped the proceedings in Round 2 when he embraced Clark in an instant and set up a rear-naked choke out of nowhere to take home the win:
By virtue of the win, Blachowicz was able to snap a two-match losing streak and regain his footing. And just like Piechota, he credited a return home for sparking his performance.
“It’s been an emotional week because everything started here,” he said, per Fang. “You can never stop doing what you love because of obstacles.”
It was also a night of redemption for Karolina Kowalkiewicz, who found her footing following consecutive losses to Claudia Gadelha and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
In need of a bounce-back performance, Kowalkiewicz brought the heat and applied pressure on Jodie Esquibel with punches and knees:
Now back on the winning track, Kowalkiewicz is primed for a step up in the division with Brazilian Jessica Andrade in her sights, per Okamoto:
The 26-year-old will pose a stiff test for Kowalkiewicz if the fight is ultimately made, but her performance Saturday evening should inspire confidence that she can continue her climb up the strawweight ranks as 2018 approaches.
The UFC returned after a week off with Fight Night 118 in Gdansk, Poland, on Saturday. It was the most underwhelming card in one of the most underwhelming years in UFC history on paper, but in practice, it managed to overachieve by delivering some dece…
The UFC returned after a week off with Fight Night 118 in Gdansk, Poland, on Saturday. It was the most underwhelming card in one of the most underwhelming years in UFC history on paper, but in practice, it managed to overachieve by delivering some decent MMA action.
Officially, there were 11 winners and 11 losers, but unofficially, there is a lot more to combat sports than results.
That was obvious when it came to the show’s biggest winner, Darren Till. The 24-year-old Brit was thrown into deep waters by UFC matchmakers and told to sink or swim, with fan favorite Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone tasked with drowning him. It was a tall order for Till, but he was more than prepared to seize his moment, pushing the pace early and scoring a first-round knockout via punches.
The flip side to this was co-main event loser Jodie Esquibel.
Making her official UFC debut after four years in Invicta FC, Esquibel was paired off with former title contender Karolina Kowalkiewicz. It was an amazing opportunity for the 31-year-old, who had the chance to jump directly into the title hunt with a win over the local favorite. Instead, Esquibel was beaten without incident and will be forced to fight her way through the thick swamp that is the middle of the strawweight division pack.
So who else won at UFC Gdansk? And who else lost? Read on to find out.
With today’s (Sat., October 21, 2017) UFC Fight Night 118 in the books from the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland, a new welterweight rising star has emerged. Unbeaten British prospect Darren Till bulldozed his way onto the rankings by destroying longtime veteran Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone with a first-round TKO in the main event following a huge […]
With today’s (Sat., October 21, 2017) UFC Fight Night 118 in the books from the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland, a new welterweight rising star has emerged.
Unbeaten British prospect Darren Till bulldozed his way onto the rankings by destroying longtime veteran Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone with a first-round TKO in the main event following a huge punch and elbow on the feet that had Cerrone turtling up early. It was a quick, shocking victory that will represent a changing of the guard at welterweight.
In other action, former women’s strawweight contender Karolina Kowalkiewicz got back into the win column with a unanimous decision win over Jodie Esquibel in the co-main event.
Watch the fighters break down the card in the post-fight press conference starting shortly after the main card here:
UFC Fight Night 118 went down today (Saturday, October 21, 2017) from the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland. The card was headlined by a welterweight scrap between Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Darren Till, and the up-and-comer picked up the biggest win of his career. Darren blitzed Cerrone and never let him get comfortable, putting his […]
UFC Fight Night 118 went down today (Saturday, October 21, 2017) from the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland. The card was headlined by a welterweight scrap between Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Darren Till, and the up-and-comer picked up the biggest win of his career. Darren blitzed Cerrone and never let him get comfortable, putting his left hand on the vet early and often on his way to a first-round stoppage.
In the co-main event, Karolina Kowalkiewicz got back on track after back-to-back losses to Joanna Champion and Claudia Gadelha by beating UFC newcomer but experienced vet Jodie Esquibel.
See how Twitter reacted to these exciting tilts below:
Always love fights like Till vs Cerrone: young stud trying to knock off the vet. Throw that scouser accent in the mix and you’ve got something special.
Donald Cerrone was finished early by Darren Till in a shocker. Cerrone vs. Till served as UFC Fight Night 118’s main event. The action took place inside the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland. The two touched gloves and we were underway. The two traded kicks early. Till moved forward with strikes. Cerrone blocked a head […]
Donald Cerrone was finished early by Darren Till in a shocker.
Cerrone vs. Till served as UFC Fight Night 118’s main event. The action took place inside the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland.
The two touched gloves and we were underway. The two traded kicks early. Till moved forward with strikes. Cerrone blocked a head kick. Till connected with a left hand. Till landed a straight punch off a leg kick. A body kick found the target for Cerrone.
Till had Cerrone wobbly. He landed an elbow. A barrage of punches followed and that was it.
Final Result: Darren Till def. Donald Cerrone via TKO (Strikes) – R1, 4:20
UFC traveled to Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland, on Saturday evening for a card jam-packed with head-turning tilts, and it was