Stephen Thompson questions why Darren Till has shot up the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight rankings despite missing weight.
Thompson and Till did battle inside the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England last month. The bout served as UFC Liverpool’s main event. Till took a controversial unanimous decision victory.
Many felt Thompson won the fight, which was close to being canceled. Till was 3.5 pounds over the weight limit. “The Gorilla” blamed a family emergency on the weight cutting failure. Thompson ensured that Till had to weigh no more than 188 pounds on the day of the fight. He tipped the scales at 187.3.
BJPenn.com recently interviewed “Wonderboy,” who made it clear that he didn’t agree with Till shooting up to the second position on the UFC welterweight rankings:
“That is a good question. Obviously Tyron and Colby are going to fight to unify the welterweight belts. So I really don’t know where that leaves Darren. The fact that Till is now ranked number two doesn’t make much sense to me. Why does a guy who missed weight and didn’t have to suffer cutting through those last few pounds get to still move up the division rankings? It just doesn’t make sense to me.”
Thompson dropped from number one to the fourth spot after his loss to Till and Colby Covington’s UFC interim welterweight title victory over Rafael dos Anjos. With Covington vs. Tyron Woodley set, Till may need one more fight before getting a title opportunity. As for Thompson, he’s calling for a bout with Robbie Lawler inside Madison Square Garden in New York City.
UFC president Dana White recently said that the promotion will try to give Thompson whatever he wants for his next fight because of how professional he was during Till’s weight cutting debacle.
Do you agree with Stephen Thompson?
