Jorge Masvidal stuns the crowd, knocking Till out in the second round
https://twitter.com/btsportufc/status/1107056180755660801
Statement made.
After almost a year-and-a-half out, Jorge Masvidal returned to the Octagon and knocked Darren Till out cold in the second round.
Till undoubtedly got the better of the first round exchanges, flooring Masvidal early and landing the better of the shots throughout.
But Masvidal visibly wised up and found ways to breach the Liverpudlian’s defences in the second round.
Whether it was counters or setting up punches with combinations, Masvidal started landing on Till.
While Till would shake his head at getting touched by Masvidal, the regularity of which the Miami fighter was landing would have been a concern.
Then came the finish. Masvidal landed a giant looping left hook and knocked Till out before he even hit the ground, following up on the way down.
The London crowd was silenced and Masvidal paid respects to his game opponent, before asking for the next title shot.
Wow.
Leon Edwards gets split decision nod over Gunnar Nelson
Leon Edwards cemented his name as one of the welterweights to watch as he beat Gunnar Nelson at UFC London on Saturday.
After getting taken down twice – albeit briefly – by the ever-dangerous Nelson in the first round, Edwards decided to wrestle back, impressively stifling Nelson in a manner rarely seen against the Icelandic grappler.
Patient and measured, Edwards seemed to have Nelson’s number each time his opponent looked to close the distance and initiate the clinch.
Each time Nelson advanced, Edwards had an answer, and when they were in close quarters, Edwards would land shots on the way in and as they parted – exemplified by Edwards brutal elbow which saw Nelson floored and with a nasty haematoma. Edwards tried to finish the fight with less than 20 seconds remaining, but Nelson clung on for the horn.
Edwards controlled the majority of the final stanza, but Nelson managed to get the Birmingham fighter down and mounted as he sensed he needed to finish the fight to take the spoils back to Iceland.
But Nelson struggled to unleash any real offence despite his dominant position as the fight came to a close.
It looked a comfortable decision win for Edwards. While one judge inexplicably awarded the fight to Nelson, two others gave Edwards the nod.
Edwards called out the winner of the night’s main event between Darren Till and Jorge Masvidal. Edwards will have at least earned one of those names given that performance.
UFC London: Darren Till vs. Jorge Masvidal full results
Welterweight: Jorge Masvidal defeats Darren Till by knockout (punches) at 3:05 of round two.
Welterweight: Leon Edwards defeats Gunnar Nelson by split decision after three rounds.
Light Heavyweight: Dominick Reyes defeats Volkan Oezdemir by split decision after three rounds.
Bantamweight: Nathaniel Wood defeats Jose Alberto Quinonez by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:46 of round two.
Welterweight: Claudio Silva defeats Danny Roberts by verbal submission (armbar) at 3:37 of round three.
Catchweight: Jack Marshman defeats John Phillips by split decision after three rounds.
Featherweight: Arnold Allen defeats Jordan Rinaldi by unanimous decision after three rounds.
Lightweight: Marc Diakiese defeats Joe Duffy unanimous decision after three rounds.
Light Heavyweight: Saparbek Safarov defeats Nicolae Negumereanu by unanimous decision after three rounds.
Featherweight: Dan Ige defeats Danny Henry by submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:17 of round one.
Women’s Flyweight: Molly McCann defeats Priscila Cachoeira by unanimous decision after three rounds.
Featherweight: Mike Grundy defeats Nad Narimani by TKO (punches) at 4:42 of round two.
