Darren Till wins decision over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson
In a technical striking bout too close to call, Liverpool’s Darren Till got the nod over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson from the judges cageside.
Both men were great in avoiding strikes from their opponents, with Till largely being the aggressor and Thompson in retreat.
The moment of the fight was when Till dropped Thompson with a punch by the fence in the fifth round, but at that point it was hard to know who was ahead on the judges’ scorecards.
As it turned out, it was Till who was ahead on the cards and was duly awarded the victory after five rounds.
Neil Magny dominates debutant Craig White in first-round TKO win
Credit to Craig White, who took on top-10 ranked UFC welterweight Neil Magny on just days’ notice for his UFC debut, but Magny’s experience told at UFC Liverpool.
White started the bout off well, peppering Magny with leg kicks before making the fight a clinch battle.
Magny clearly got a feel of what White had to offer in the clinch, as he soon took the fight back there as the first round wore on. From the clinch, White tried taking the fight down, but Magny reversed position to have his opponent mounted. After landing some crushing ground and pound, Magny let the fight resume on the feet.
White went hell for leather, trying to blitz Magny, but as the fight goes back to the fence, Magny lands a knee which sends White reeling. From there, it’s a procession as Magny lands a series of painful-looking blows to force referee Leon Roberts to call a stop to the action.
Arnold Allen swiftly submits Mads Burnell in come-from-behind victory
Denmark’s Mads Burnell must be wondering how he lost this fight.
Burnell was seemingly coasting his way to a dominant unanimous decision victory as he emerged for the third round after two rounds of takedowns and being too tricky for England’s Arnold Allen.
The third round initially followed a similar pattern. Burnell caught Allen’s kick, running the fight back down to the ground once again. And, once again, Allen got back to his feet so the fight resumed its position by the fence.
Again, Allen got back up each time after a number of Burnell takedowns against the cage. However, as the fight was approaching midway of the third and final round, Allen was waiting for Burnell to change levels once again.
Burnell was lulled into Allen’s trap as he drove for another double leg. Allen swiftly caught Burnell in a front choke, locked it up tightly and dropped to the floor to apply more pressure. Resigned to somehow losing the fight, Burnell tapped out.
Makwan Amirkhani takes split decision over Jason Knight
In a back-and-forth fight filled with bad blood, Finland’s Makwan Amirkhani earned a split decision win over American Jason Knight.
The pair traded knockdowns in the first round – Amirkhani with one and the fight’s first, to Knight’s two knockdowns in quick succession.Like with most of Amirkhani’s fights, he started off well, but those two knockdowns suggested the fight was turning in Knight’s favour.
However, Amirkhani switched up his gameplan, opting to take the floor down to the canvas.
Knight provided some good offence from his back, but Amirkhani defended well and ultimately stifled any resistance offered.
Amirkhani ultimately won the fight in the eyes of the judges, but it could have went the other way if a judge valued strikes and submission attempts from the bottom of full guard.
Claudio Silva submits Nordine Taleb in comeback fight
Britain-based Brazilian Claudio Silva hadn’t fought in close to four years thanks to injury, but it looked like he hadn’t skipped a beat on Sunday.
His opponent, Nordine Taleb, looked twice Silva’s size and that discrepancy told early – amplified by a thunderous Taleb takedown which reverberated across the Echo Arena.
As the fight returned to the feet, it was clear Taleb had a distinct striking advantage over Silva. After a couple of failed takedown attempts, Silva eventually landed the takedown he was so sorely seeking.
Taleb tried rolling for a kneebar, which proved to be a poor idea against a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt. Silva delivered numerous punches from on top before taking full mount.
Under pressure, Taleb rolled over and gave his back to Silva, who promptly synched up a body triangle and then a palm-to-palm rear-naked choke. Taleb looked like he would survive the attempt, even giving a thumbs up to referee Neil Hall, but quickly tapped out.
Darren Stewart smashes Eric Spicely inside two rounds
Darren Stewart’s known as “The Dentist” for a reason.
In a closely contested bout, Eric Spicely clearly wanted to spend most of the fight either in the clinch or on the ground.
Spicely did well to pepper his opponent with single shots to set up his takedown attempts, while Stewart typically threw everything into his shots.
As the second stanza began, one of Stewart’s power punches landed, leading to the American Spicely change tact and backpedal. Spicely had seemingly survived the initial onslaught, but was soon sent sprawling by another strike from Stewart.
England’s Stewart followed Spicely to the floor, resisting his opponent’s attempts to tie him up in his guard to land a series of punches to force referee Leon Roberts to call a stop to the fight.
Tom Breese breezes through Daniel Kelly
We’ve waited almost two years to see British middleweight prospect Tom Breese back in the cage after suffering his first professional defeat, a split decision to Sean Strickland in June 2016.
It was well worth the wait. Breese was patient as Australian Olympian Daniel Kelly was typically awkward to work out on the feet.
That patience paid off as Birmingham’s Breese picked his moment to launch a left uppercut which dazed Kelly.
As Kelly retreated, seemingly concerned about his eye, Breese rushed in to put an end to the fight with a series of punches to Kelly, who was left crumpled on the canvas.
It was well worth the wait to see Breese return to winning ways. At just 26 years old, Breese is one talented middleweight to keep an eye on.
Lina Lansberg gets unanimous decision nod over Gina Mazany
Sweden’s Lina Lansberg earned her second UFC victory on Sunday, taking the unanimous decision win against American Gina Mazany.
Lansberg, a decorated Muay Thai champion, opted to grind on her opponent rather than purely rely on her striking pedigree.
Mazany had little answer for Lansberg as the latter put up a relentless pace. The unanimous decision in favour of Lansberg was just.
Gillian Robertson chokes out Molly McCann at UFC Liverpool
Upcoming American Top Team talent Gillian Robertson stepped into enemy territory on Sunday afternoon and silenced the Liverpool crowd by choking hometown hero Molly McCann unconscious.
McCann, who was one of two Liverpudlians to miss weight ahead of their fight at UFC Liverpool, looked to have the edge on the feet over Robertson, but floundered on the ground.
After her first takedown in the opening round, Robertson must have known she had a distinct advantage down on the mat.
As the second round began, Robertson sought to quickly take the fight back to the floor, before aggressively pursuing a submission. And the Canadian got just that as she slid her forearm under McCann’s chin to secure a tight-looking rear-naked choke.
McCann did not tap and was quickly rendered unconscious – it took referee Neil Hall a considerable amount of time to realise McCann had been choked out.
UFC Liverpool: Thompson vs. Till full results
Welterweight bout: Darren Till defeats Stephen Thompson by Unanimous Decision after five rounds.
Welterweight bout: Neil Magny defeats Craig White by TKO (punches) at 4:32 of round one.
Featherweight bout: Arnold Allen defeats Mads Burnell by submission (front choke) at 2:41 of round three.
Featherweight bout: Makwan Amirkhani defeats Jason Knight by split decision after three rounds.
Welterweight bout: Claudio Silva defeats Nordine Taleb by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:31 of round one.
Middleweight bout: Darren Stewart defeats Eric Spicely by TKO (punches) at 1:47 of round two.
Middleweight bout: Tom Breese defeats Daniel Kelly by TKO (punches) at 3:33 of round one.
Women’s Bantamweight bout: Lina Lansberg defeats Gina Mazany by Unanimous Decision after three rounds.
Welterweight bout: Carlo Pedersoli Jr. defeats Brad Scott by Split Decision after three rounds.
Catchweight bout (127lbs): Gillian Robertson defeats Molly McCann by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:05 of round two.
Middleweight bout: Elias Theodorou defeats Trevor Smith by Unanimous Decision after three rounds.
