Stephen Thompson fights Darren Till in the main event of UFC Fight Night 130 on May 27, 2018, at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. During a recent appearance on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, ‘Wonderboy’ said when he was offered the fight, he didn’t know who Tull was. When it was first offered he declined the bout, citing lingering thumb issues. Then the fight was offered again a few months later, and he accepted.

To be honest, I didn’t know who this guy was when I was approached,” said Thompson, as transcribed by Adam Guillen Jr. for MMA Mania. “‘Who is this Darren Till?’ He got a name after knocking out Cerrone, which I don’t, Cerrone was on a three-fight losing streak. He was knocked out by Jorge Masvidal, who I just beat.

So I was like, ‘Who is this number seven guy? Why is he jumping over everybody else to fight the number one contender? Why am I not fighting the number two guy?’ When I was coming up in the rankings, I had to fight up to number one to get that title. That was another reason I turned down the Till fight right away was because I wanted to fight ‘RDA,’ and that’s not happening.

So there was nobody else to fight but this guy Darren Till. And it’s in his own backyard? So I was like, ‘Why am I fighting this guy who I don’t even know, in his own hometown?’ But he keeps asking for it and he is definitely going to get the best ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson come May 27.

Thompson is a very smart fighter, and despite the comments will not underestimate Till. Donald Cerrone too said he’d never heard of Till, and Cowboy didn’t make it out of the first.

This MMA Hour was, for the record, the most watched episode ever. Watch it ” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>here!