UFC President Dana White has announced Darren Till’s next opponent, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson. The news broke on Twitter via Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times;
Dana White says he’s moving his UFC card from Orlando, moving it to England so popular Darren Till can fight @WonderboyMMA
— Lance Pugmire (@pugboxing) November 8, 2017
The date is Feb. 24 for Till-Wonderboy.
— Lance Pugmire (@pugboxing) November 8, 2017
The event, UFC on Fox 28 was originally scheduled to be held in the Amway Centre in Orlando Florida but has now been moved to England, the venue and city have yet to be confirmed. Until now no fights had been announced for the card so the move has been to specifically accommodate the main event. With that in mind I think it would be a massive miss on part of the UFC not to hold this event in Till’s hometown of Liverpool. However, the Echo Arena in Liverpool is currently scheduled to host Cage Warriors 90 on that night in an event that will see Till’s fellow Liverpudlian and lightweight standout, Paddy Pimblett fight.
Darren Till is fresh off a round 1 TKO victory over Donald Cerrone in Gdansk Poland last month. There was a lot of buzz to see the Scouser face Mike ‘Platinum’ Perry, who was cage side for the event, after the two had a back and forth during Till’s post-fight interview. However, I don’t think the fans who wanted to see that fight will disappointed in the slightest that it isn’t happening.
Thompson is just four days removed from an impressive unanimous decision win over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 217 and a win over the fast-rising Till could see him right back in title contention. A kempo karate expert, Wonderboy is somewhat of a throwback to the early days of the UFC when it was specialist vs. specialist, displaying some of the most disciplined and deadly striking in the sport.
Till is no slouch as a striker either, a master in Muay Thai and a perfect 44-0 record as a kickboxer (33 KOs), and that is what makes this contest so tantalising. Together, the two men have been responsible for 17 KOs in professional MMA competition and 73 KOs in professional kickboxing. This one is sure to be a high level striking competition that could be over in the blink of an eye for either man. Till has previously hinted at this fight taking place;
Just gonna put it out there, but imagine the chess game of striking me and wonderboy would have? 🤔#HighLevelStriking 🦍
— D (@darrentill2) October 24, 2017
One other thing to celebrate is the UFC will be coming to England two months in a row, with this card in February and the promotion coming back to London for a 10th time in March. Tickets for the latter are set to go on general sale Feb. 2nd.
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