STEPHEN ‘WONDERBOY’ THOMPSON insisted that he had no regrets in the aftermath of last night’s controversial defeat to Darren Till at the Echo Arena in Liverpool.
At the end of a closely contested five-rounder which headlined UFC Fight Night 130, Till had his hand raised thanks to a unanimous-decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46) win.
However, the judges’ scores were met with a mixed reaction, with many observers of the opinion that Thompson (14-3-1) had done enough to earn the victory at the expense of the undefeated Liverpudlian, whose record now stands at 17-0-1.
Despite being the top-ranked contender in the welterweight division, Thompson accepted a bout against the eighth-ranked Till in his hometown. The 35-year-old South Carolina native also tolerated his opponent’s failure to make weight. The 25-year-old Englishman tipped the scales 3.5 pounds over the 171-pound limit on Saturday.
“Even though he didn’t make weight, it’s in his hometown, I love being here, I love the fight game, I love to put on a show for everybody that came out and for the people who helped get me here. This is what I do,” the American said.
Thompson was gracious in defeat, although he did express his disagreement with the assessment of the judges. Of the 25 media members who registered their scores on MMADecisions.com, only three gave the nod to Till.
“I thought I had four of the [five] rounds,” Thompson said. “Could be controversial, three maybe? I don’t know. I felt like I would hit and move. The only really good shot he had was that one shot in the fifth round, but other than that it was pretty close.
“I felt comfortable out there. I realised how big he was so I knew I had to stay on my bike and keep moving. I knew it was going to be a close fight, but I thought I had edged it out.”
UFC president Dana White, who felt the fight was too close to call, is now keen for Till to fight in Las Vegas. With the exception of his debut in Brazil in 2015, all of Till’s bouts under the UFC banner thus far have taken place in Europe.
“We’ll get back to the office and see how the rest of this month plays out,” said White, with less than a fortnight to go until Rafael dos Anjos and Colby Covington fight for an interim welterweight title. “We’ll start looking at what’s in the future for Till but I’d like to see his next fight be in Vegas.”
