Tag: Wonderboy

Darren Till Admits He May Not Be Able To Meet Wonderboy’s Terms

Darren Till doesn’t know if he’ll be able to fulfill Stephen Thompson’s terms:

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Darren Till isn’t sure he’ll be able to meet Stephen Thompson’s terms for their main event at tomorrow’s (Sun., May 27, 2018) UFC Liverpool from the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England.

After Till missed weight by 3.5 pounds for their anticipated headliner earlier today, Thompson set forth his terms for accepting the bout, which included Till forfeiting 30 percent of his purse to Wonderboy and him weighing under 188 pounds at 1 p.m. the day of the bout.

Till had a family emergency that took place as the weigh-ins were about to begin, prompting the presiding officials to give him an extra hour to check in for them. He still missed the mark, however, casting a shadow over the UFC’s initial event in his hometown.

In an exclusive interview with MMAjunkie, Till apologized for the weight miss and explained what happened in terms of his family situation. In terms of meeting Thompson’s demands, Till said he actually offered his whole fight purse:

“There’s never no excuse for missing weight,” Till told MMAjunkie. “I always say it: When you fight, and you lose a fight, there’s no excuse. You lose. Same with the battle with the scales. This time I lost, and there’s no excuse. I know that the UFC said why I missed and gave some information. When I started cutting weight I got an emergency call. It was a family matter. I just had to go to the hospital there and back. I only had five kilos (11 pounds) to go. Usually I have six, seven. I was running. I was OK. I was fine. And I tried to get in the sauna, tried to get in the steam, I tried to do a bath. It just wasn’t happening. I was knackered.

“I missed weight, and I’m truly embarrassed by it, but the fight’s still on hopefully. I’ve got to weigh in again tomorrow. We’ll see how it goes. I know they’re very adamant I’ve got to weigh a certain weight. The ball’s in their court.

“Listen, I offered 100 percent of my purse. Money is no object. Money will come sooner than later. I offered 100 percent.”

While he may have offered his full purse, he isn’t sure he’ll be able to make it to the fight below 188 pounds as Thompson’s camp desires. He clarified that he had already begun rehydrating, and with him being arguably the biggest 170-pound fighter in the UFC, it just may be unhealthy for him to do so:

“They were adamant I had to weigh in 83-85 kilo (182-187 pounds), which just – it’s bad for me health,” Till said. “We’ll see what happens in the morning when I weigh. I’ve already started drinking. I’ve already started filling back up. We’ll see. I’m sure the fight’s on. I’ll have to pass medicals, and I’ll have to train tonight or tomorrow. But I’m mentally prepared for anything. Nothing gets to me in this life. If I do have to train in the morning to make the weight and cut again, I’ll do it.

“Eighty-five kilo tomorrow morning is not enough. It’s not that it’s not enough. I just put weight on so quick. I’ve got a slow metabolism. I just started drinking before, and it went up like that. So, we’ll see. It could be a mind game. If I have to make the weight, I’ll make it.”

With the pressure on for him to weigh below the demanded limit, Till knows he’s in a compromising spot in a fight that he called the main focus of his entire life to the point he’s largely avoided his family and friends as of late. All the hate is pouring in right now, something he knew would happen, but Till said that once he makes his way to the octagon tomorrow, his usual confidence will be restored:

“When I make my entrance and walk in that cage, that confidence is back,” Till said. “I just honestly don’t give a (expletive) about anything. I haven’t spoken to my daughter in a week; I haven’t FaceTime’d because my mind’s been on this. I haven’t shown affection or love to anyone. My friends don’t know me anymore because I’m just not asked. Tomorrow my confidence is back, but for now, humble Darren is here.

“I’m truly gutted that I missed weight, but all I can say to the fans is don’t hate on me too much. Because I know I’m going to get hate now.”

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Stephen Thompson Reveals Terms For Accepting UFC Liverpool Main Event

Wonderboy revealed his conditions to take the UFC Liverpool main event:

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The UFC was met with yet another high-profile weight miss when rising welterweight Darren Till missed weight for his scheduled main event against Stephen Thompson at tomorrow’s UFC Liverpool earlier today.

Set to fight in front of his hometown in a dream scenario, Till came up short by an astonishing 3.5 pounds over the welterweight non-title fight limit of 171 pounds for the anticipated match from the Echo Arena in Liverpool, prompting concern that the fight would not take place.

But as it usually does in the UFC, the match-up will proceed as planned; that is if Till agrees to Thompson’s conditions for the bout. According to MMA Junkie, Wonderboy will go forward with the bout if Till forfeits 30 percent of his purse to him and weighs no more than 188 pounds at 1 P.M. local time tomorrow.

However, if Till cannot make the designated limit, another negotiation of terms is likely to happen according to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani. Till apparently had a family emergency this morning, which officials deemed the reason he was allowed an extra hour after the originally scheduled weigh-in time for fighters to check in. Thompson’s team can be present for his weigh-in tomorrow as well.

At the ceremonial weigh-ins, Till apologized for missing weight but swore he could stop the top-ranked Wonderboy:

“I want to apologize for missing weight,” Till said. “S**t happens… I know I can finish Stephen Thompson.”

So the issue of missing weight continues to haunt the UFC, this time creeping into an awaited main event fight. It’s a highly pivotal issue as well, as athletes who missed weight are an alarming 6-0 in UFC competition this year. Till has also missed weight once before, coming it even higher at five pounds over last year for his bout against Jessin Ayari.

As one of the biggest welterweights on the UFC roster, if the UFC Liverpool main event is scrapped because he’s unable to meet Thompson’s terms, whispers of him needing to move up a weight class will begin to swirl.

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Pics: Artist’s UFC Liverpool Poster Destroys Official Edition

A couple weeks ago, the UFC drew a small amount of criticism when the poster came out for May 27’s UFC Fight Night 130 from Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. While that’s not a hard thing to find on social media these days, the official poster was perhaps justified in its criticism because it was […]

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A couple weeks ago, the UFC drew a small amount of criticism when the poster came out for May 27’s UFC Fight Night 130 from Echo Arena in Liverpool, England.

While that’s not a hard thing to find on social media these days, the official poster was perhaps justified in its criticism because it was far too basic to convey the potential electricity generated by the Stephen Thompson vs. Darren Till welterweight main event.

Check it out right here and decide for yourself:

If you didn’t like it, not to worry – popular MMA poster artist bosslogic had his own exciting rendition featuring a Karate Kid re-imagining, and it was so exciting that Thompson himself had to give his own props online.

There’s little doubt that the creative rendition of the classic karate movie (which is, coincidentally, seeing its own resurgence on YouTube this week), is an amazing, individual pairing of Thompson and Till that sets the stage for an anticipated feature bout in the UFC’s first venture to Liverpool.

The Liverpudlian fans will be going wild for hometown rising star Till, and at that point, the poster obviously won’t matter.

You have to wonder if the UFC could have stepped up their design game for a fight with so many unique dynamics, however, especially given they’re owned by a Hollywood giant with a knack for success in a town full of flash.

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Darren Till Vows To Take ‘Wonderboy’s’ Chin ‘Clean Off’

Surging No. 7 UFC welterweight Darren Till burst into the spotlight when he stopped longtime vet Donald Cerrone in the main event of last October’s UFC Poland, but it’s been surprising to not see the Scouse star set foot back into the octagon since then. But even though the UFC and Till didn’t strike while […]

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Surging No. 7 UFC welterweight Darren Till burst into the spotlight when he stopped longtime vet Donald Cerrone in the main event of last October’s UFC Poland, but it’s been surprising to not see the Scouse star set foot back into the octagon since then.

But even though the UFC and Till didn’t strike while the proverbial iron was hot, they may have found an even better spot to showcase Till’s enamoring skills when it was recently announced he would be taking on former title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson in the main event of the UFC’s first trip to Till’s hometown of Liverpool on May 27.

Since the pivotal fight broke, Till has predictably been making bold prognostications for the awaited match, a trend he continued to MMANYTT (via MMA Mania), insisting he knows he’s better than the 35-year-old striking specialist before offering his foretelling of a brash outcome in his favor:

“Everyone says I’m not worthy of him … well, let’s just f**king fight. Because it’s getting me more lit up now inside. Let’s f**king do it. Let’s do it. Me and him. Show me how good of a striker you are, because I know I’m better, I know I’ll take his chin clean off. I know I’m better than him.”

It may have taken several months for his next bout to get booked, a time during which he went back-and-forth with several rising welterweight contenders such as Kamaru Usman, who was recently scheduled to fight Santiago Ponzinibbio in the main of UFC Chile.

Usman accused the Liverpudlian of being scared to face him, something he’s done to a large portion of the 170-pound rankings of late. But Till insisted he isn’t scared of the dominant wrestler’s mat game, just like he’s not scared of anyone in the division’s main strengths:

”I’m not scared of anyone,” Till said. “I’m not scared of Gunnar’s grappling and I’m not scared of Usman’s wrestling, I’m not scared of Woodley’s power and I’m not scared of Thompson’s karate. I don’t give a f**k about any of them. I’m not scared of any of them. They should be f**king scared of me because I’m a vicious little c**t.”

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Darren Till Offers Bold Prediction For ‘Wonderboy’ Fight

Fight fans were delighted to hear that two of the best strikers in the welterweight division will throw down at UFC Liverpool on May 27, and everyone seems to be offering their predictions on how the fight will go down. Darren Till offered his own prediction regarding his upcoming fight against Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, and […]

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Fight fans were delighted to hear that two of the best strikers in the welterweight division will throw down at UFC Liverpool on May 27, and everyone seems to be offering their predictions on how the fight will go down.

Darren Till offered his own prediction regarding his upcoming fight against Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, and the Englishman didn’t hesitate to assert his confidence heading into the biggest fight in his MMA career:

“I think it’s going to be the most interesting fight I’ll ever have in my life, just because of his fight IQ and mine. Let’s see who wins, lets see who’s the best in the division. Now it’s time to see.”

“Striking-wise, I don’t think it’s too early because I’ve been striking my whole life and so has he. I wouldn’t say [it’s early] in terms of that and even in MMA, I wouldn’t say his wrestling caliber is any better than mine, or his ground game.

“I know he’s got some good training partners — Chris Weidman and that — but I don’t see where he is better than me anywhere. I just think my striking is better than his and I’m going to beat him.”

As for how the fight will go down, Till expects a knockout in the later rounds, and should his prediction come true, he expects fight fans will finally see Till as more tha just a hype train:

“Third-round knockout… As soon as I beat Stephen everyone will know that I’m the best striker in the welterweight division. As soon as I beat him on the 27th then people can stop talking about my hype train.”

Till and Thompson will throw down in the main event of UFC Liverpool on April 27.

Do you think Till’s prediction will come true? Or will ‘Wonderboy’ throw a wrench into those plans?

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Wonderboy’s Camp Strongly Denies Darren Till Booking

Hold the phone on that reported ‘Wonderboy’ vs. Darren Till booking early next year. After news arrived from The Los Angeles Times’ Lance Pugmire that top-ranked UFC welterweight Stephen Thompson would be taking on surging prospect Darren Till in the main event of UFC Fight Night 127 next February from London, Thompson’s coach and father Ray […]

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Hold the phone on that reported ‘Wonderboy’ vs. Darren Till booking early next year.

After news arrived from The Los Angeles Times’ Lance Pugmire that top-ranked UFC welterweight Stephen Thompson would be taking on surging prospect Darren Till in the main event of UFC Fight Night 127 next February from London, Thompson’s coach and father Ray Thompson shot down the reported booking.

Responding to the report to MMAFighting.com, Thompson said ‘Wonderboy’ may have two broken thumbs and/or ligament damage from his decision win over Jorge Masvidal at last week’s UFC 217, and had not talked to anyone about the supposedly ‘done’ booking. In their eyes, Till should have to work his way up the stacked welterweight division before facing them:

“We’ve talked to no one [about fighting Till],” Ray Thompson added. “Not sure how this is a ‘done deal.’ As for Till, he needs to fight through the murderers row at welterweight like ‘Wonderboy’ did to get to the top.

Thompson elaborated more on their point of view, noting that they still want to fight top-ranked former champ Robbie Lawler, who will take on rising former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of December 16’s UFC on FOX 26. Thompson wondered why his son is essentially being moved out of contention after two incredibly close fights with champion Tyron Woodley:

“We want to fight forward. We’ve been calling out [Robbie] Lawler since before the first Woodley fight and have gotten crickets on it. Why? Why hasn’t anyone talked to us about it? No one from the UFC, no one from Lawler’s camp, no one. ‘Wonderboy’ had one of the most fantastic, exciting fights when he fought [Tyron] Woodley at UFC 205. That fight stole the show.

“The second fight was a snoozefest, mostly because Wonderboy chased Woodley around the Octagon for five rounds. We take part of the blame since we didn’t pull the trigger often enough. Since then we feel like we are being moved out of title contention. Not saying that’s the case but it sure looks that way. What happened to the rankings?”

‘Wonderboy’ himself also confirmed he had yet to be approached about fighting Till.

The unbeaten Liverpool native is gaining momentum in a big way after starching Donald Cerrone in the main event of October 21’s UFC Gdansk, and the UFC was reportedly looking to book him at UFC Fight Night 127 from Orlando. The promotion now reportedly wants to move the card to Liverpool, where they’ve looked into booking the Echo Arena, for Till to headline.

The unbeaten rising star has expressed interest in fighting the former title challenger Thompson, but sources close to him confirmed there have been no official talks as well.

What went wrong in this chain of communication for the UFC?

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