Tip UFC welterweight Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson appeared recently on Submission Radio and detailed by the doesn’t believe Darren Till deserved a title shot at Tyron Woodley. In an unfortunate trend in the UFC, Till weighed 174.5 for a #1 contender bout vs. Thomson, won, and got the title shot anyway.
Now he’s fighting for the title; it doesn’t make sense to me,” said Thompson.
Do I think he deserves it? No. I really don’t. This is a professional sport, and making weight is part of the job. You agreed to make the weight. I mean, it’s like the Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero. You know, if you don’t make weight, you don’t fight for the title. I think it should be the same. If you don’t make weight, you don’t move up the rankings. It’s part of the job. You signed a contract to be that way, and my God, you should make it, you should make it.
“And he was bragging about it weeks before the fight how he’s this massive 170, how the UFC shouldn’t be allowing the fight. Which made him look even worse because he didn’t make weight. And that was 171. I mean, how is he gonna make 170? So yeah, man, I would definitely be questioning that as a fan, but also as the UFC. So, for him to be actually fighting for the title, man…
“They’re wondering why people aren’t making weight? Because there’s no consequences. Yeah sure, he wasn’t getting paid much for that fight, so of course he won’t make weight. Give 20 or 30 percent or whatever it was to move up the rankings. So now, I mean, he’s probably getting crazy money to fight now, so I bet it was worth it. And the UFC is like, why aren’t these guys making weight? Because there’s no consequences. You know, no real consequences. A lot of people will give them 30 percent and move up the rankings cause their next fight will be more money. It’s just a sacrifice at the moment for a bigger gain later on.
Darren Till is a big body, like I said, so he’s very heavy and he’s aggressive. Tyron, he doesn’t do well against those aggressive guys, especially who are just kind of in their face. And Darren is very long. And it’s for fear of Tyron gassing out, maybe. I guess that’s why he doesn’t do well against those aggressive guys. So, Darren Till definitely has the body, the mass to really push Tyron and tire him out. But on the other hand, Tyron Woodley’s a very intelligent guy. He’s very cerebral when it comes to breaking down fighters. So, he’s not gonna be stupid. Darren Till, he gives up his hips. Every time you throw a punch he leans way back and his hips are there. I think Tyron’s gotta use that right hand, and if he doesn’t knock him out with it, he’s gotta set it up to take him down. And he’s got the power to be able to hold Darren down, even though Darren Till is showing photos on his Instagram – cause people were posting up that he’s got some of the best Jiu Jitsu guys in the world helping him out. But this close to fight time it’s not gonna make a difference.
Thompson also said he was eager to fight Robbie Lawler, but reports that they ere fighting in January were premature. It was talked about but hasn’t moved beyond the preliminary talking stage. He also anticipated a return in December or January, by which time his knee should be recovered by then.
