Following much back-and-forth, Liverpool is officially getting the main event everybody was crying out for.
After making the decision to host their May 27 event on Merseyside rather than Dublin, the card began filling out nicely over the past fortnight.
Darren Till was a no-brainer to close out the Octagon’s first trip to Liverpool’s Echo Arena and the Walton-born fighter was part of the company’s official announcement but his opponent remained a mystery up until now.
Top welterweight contenders like Jorge Masvidal, Gunnar Nelson and Kamaru Usman were touted as potential candidates for the Till fight but there was always going to be just one opponent that fight fans wanted to see.
Get ready Liverpool 🙌@Darrentill2 has his dream fight…#UFCLiverpool pic.twitter.com/iwd8Qkm1r7
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) March 29, 2018
And, on Thursday afternoon, the UFC confirmed that their matchmakers had absolutely nailed it as they announced that recent 170lbs title challenger Stephen Thompson has agreed to travel to enemy territory in an attempt to hand Till the first defeat of his mixed martial arts career.
In what is the likely the match-up of the two best strikers at welterweight, Till could well stake a claim for a title fight with a victory over ‘Wonderboy’, who has twice failed to bring back the gold in his pair of 2017 championship clashes with reigning champion Tyron Woodley.
Till, who comes from a Muay Thai background, has never fought on UK soil before but he will get the opportunity to make it a perfect homecoming when he puts his skills to the test against the Karate-based Thompson.
With two months to go until fight night, the card is filling out beautifully.
UFC Liverpool currently looks like this…
Darren Till vs. Stephen Thompson
Gunnar Nelson vs. Neil Magny
Tom Breese vs. Dan Kelly
Elias Theodorou vs. Trevor Smith
Makwan Amirkhani vs. Jason Knight
Darren Stewart vs. Eric Spicely
Lina Lansberg vs. Gina Mazany
Brad Scott vs. Salim Touahri
Arnold Allen vs. Mads Burnell
