Today (Sun. May 27, 2018) the UFC returned to Liverpool, England for a welterweight match-up many mixed martial arts (MMA) fans had been anticipating for months.
Two-time former UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson lost a back-and-forth bout to Darren Till, in front of his native English crowd, via a controversial unanimous decision. Thompson out-landed Till throughout the fight, but Till dominated Octagon control and did the most damage, especially off a fifth round knockdown – the only big strike of the night.
Also on the card, welterweight veteran Neil Magny made quick work of UFC rookie Craig White with a first round TKO win. Arnold Allen pulled off a miraculous third round submission comeback win over Mads Burnell in featherweight competition, while Makwan Amirkhani returned to take a decision win over Jason Knight after a year-long layoff.
The UFC had plenty of other great fights on the England card as well. You can check out our live coverage of UFC Liverpool here below, or via Twitter @mmanews_com:
Main Card:
- Welterweight: Stephen Thompson vs. Darren Till
Round 1:
Till opens up with a leg kick. Very tentative decisions from both men, more of a feeling out process throughout two minutes. Till with a kick to the body and Thompson responds with a straight right hand. Spinning elbow from Till half lands. The round comes to an end.
Round 2:
Till with a left hand that barely lands to open the round. A side kick to the body lands for Thompson. Leg kicks are exchanged and Thompson lands a hook backing up. Till just dodges a high kick from Thompson. Spinning kick fromThompson misses. The round comes to an end.
Round 3:
Thompson has a high kick blocked. He is able to land a nice kick to the body and catches Till with a right hand coming inside. Thompson again catches Dill coming inside as he tried to close the distance. Thompson rips off a combination but it doesn’t seem to affect Till much. Thompson is able to land another takedown but an eye poke from Thompson stops the action for a while. Some side kicks to the body land for Thompson. A big let hand lands for Till. The round comes to an end.
Round 4:
Thompson again catches Till with a straight coming inside. Till is coming inside hard still, trying to and a nice shot. A nice left hand lands for Till now. Till now clinches Thompson agains the cage and rips off an elbow. Thompson separates and hits a body kick. Some nice jabs from Till and the round comes to an end.
Round 5:
The pair hug to start the round. Till lands a nice jab and backs him up against the cage, but Thompson is already out. A few big jabs from Till and then he drops Thompson with a hook. Thompson is back up to his feet and the crowd is going nuts. Thompson fires back with a left hook of his own, but Till gets a quick takedown but Till is right back up. A leg kick from Till, and the round comes to an end.
Official Result: Darren Till def. Stephen Thompson via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46)
- Welterweight: Neil Magny vs. Craig White
Round 1:
White clinches up with Magny, and after several minutes of battling for dominant position agains the cage, Magny hits an accidental low blow that temporarily stops the action. Magny throws a kick and White again comes in on a takedown attempt and is working from the clinch against the cage. After a knee to the gut from Magny, White drops levels but Magny ends up on top on the ground. White gets to his fight but now Magny is working against White on the cage. A knee to the face from Magny drops White and ground-and-pound from Magny now. The referee steps in and that’s it.
Official Result: Neil Magny def. Craig White via R1 TKO (punches, 4:32)
- Featherweight: Arnold Allen vs. Mads Burnell
Round 1:
Burnell lands a leg kick and Allen is sticking and moving early on. Burnell landing some nice hooks but Allen is firing back with some nice ones of his own. Burnell is in on a takedown now against the cage. They separate and Burnell comes inside with some shots. A nice body kick lands for Burnell. Burnell is staying very busy and has great head movement. Burnell gets the takedown now Allen stands up and is taken down again by Burnell again. Allen stands agains the cage, gets a trip, and the round ends.
Round 2:
Burnell lands some big shots and is right into the takedown. Allen scoots to sit agains the cage, stands, but is taken down again. Allen gets to his feet and Burnell toys with him with his movement, before getting another takedown. Burnell maintains top position and gets in some ground-and-pound to end the round.
Round 3:
Allen is trying to land some big shots but can’t land. Burnell again with the takedown and Allen scoots to the cage, sits up, but is taken down again. Allen is to his feet again, but Burnell is working another takedown agains the cage now. Burnell finally gets it and falls right into side control, but Allen is close to the cage and is able to get to his feet. Burnell is still glued to Allen against the cage and works for another takedown. Allen locks in a choke and Burnell has no choice but to tap. WHAT AN AMAZING COMEBACK!
Official Result: Arnold Allen def. Mads Burnell via R3 submission (Front choke, 2:41)
- Featherweight: Jason Knight vs. Makwan Amirkhani
Round 1:
Amirkhani lands a big shot that drops Knight, he pulls guard and Amirkhani is taunting him. Another nice lead hook lands for Amirkhani, and he follows it up with a big jab. Knight comes in with some hard hooks and Amirkhani clinches him up but they separate. A big shot from Knight drops Amirkhani. Knight goes to the ground and is trying for a triangle. They get up but Knight again drops Amirkhani with a shot. He tries to find a submission on the ground but is unable.
Round 2:
Knight opes up with a body kick. Knight lands a shot in the clinch and avoided a flying attack from Amirkhani. Amirkhani eats some shots and goes in for a takedown. Knight immediately goes to his back and tries for the rubber guard. Another big shot lands for Knight, but he gets taken down into side control by Amirkhani. Knight works to rubber guard but a another scramble ensues to end the round.
Round 3:
Knight pulls guard into rubber guard to open the round. Knight throws up a few triangle attempts but isn’t successful. The referee stands them up after Knight had Amirkhani tied up in a way he could’ve move. Amirkhani trying to take Knight down again against the cage and Knight rolls through for a knee bar but can’t find it. Amirkhani maintains dominant position to end the fight.
Official Result: Makwan Amirkhani def. Jason Knight via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
- Welterweight: Claudio Silva vs. Nordine Taleb
Round 1:
Silva lands a nice hook to the body and body kick. He is in on the clinch now but Taleb is able to separate. Taleb with a nice low kick, catches a kick from Silva, slams him into side control, and gets off some nice shots before separating. Taleb now throwing some hellacious shots against the cage, but backs off and continues to pick his shots carefully.
Taleb stuffs a takedown and delivers a big knee to Silva’s body. Silva gets the takedown despite hard fighting from Taleb. Silva gets mount and is reigning down ground-and-pound. Razor elbows landing for Silva and now he attacks the neck for the rear-naked choke. Taleb is forced to tap out.
Official Result: Claudio Silva def. Nordine Taleb via R1 submission (rear-naked choke, 4:31)
- Middleweight: Eric Spicely vs. Darren Stewart
Round 1:
Stewart lands a nice straight to the body and follows it up with a jab. Spicely lands a big right hand and shoots in for a takedown against the cage. Stewart defends nicely for several minutes and backs Spicely off with some elbows. Spicely lands some nice hooks during an exchange inside the pocket. Stewart lands a stiff jab and Spicely responds with two nice leg kicks. Spicely blitzes on Stewart to end the round but Stewart fires back with a jumping kick and jab.
Round 2:
Stewart backs Spicely up with a hard shot. A big jab lands for Spicely and a big right hand from Stewart wobbles Spicely. Spicely snaps out of it and fires back some big shots of his own. A big hook to the body lands for Stewart now. A huge jab from Stewart knocks Spicely down, he jumps on him for the ground-and-pound and the ref waves it off.
Official Result: Darren Stewart def. Eric Spicely via R2 TKO (punches, 1:47)
Preliminary Card:
- Middleweight: Dan Kelly def. Tom Breese via R1 TKO (punches, 3:33)
- Women’s bantamweight: Lina Lansberg def. Gina Mazany via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Welterweight: Carlo Pedersoil Jr. def. Brad Scott via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Women’s Flyweight: Gillian Robertson def. Molly McCann via R2 submission (rear-naked choke, 2:05)
UFC Fight Pass Exclusive Prelims:
- Middleweight: Elias Theodorou def. Trevor Smith via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
