Darren Till picked up a unanimous decision win over Stephen Thompson in the main event of UFC Fight Night Liverpool.
The British fighter missed weight for the fight by 3.5 pounds and longtime MMA coach Ray Longo equates that to cheating on Till’s behalf.
“I think they’re gonna have to readdress this because at the end of the day it’s cheating,” Longo said on The Anik & Florian Podcast. “There’s a higher percentage of wins with guys that don’t make weight than there are with guys that are on PEDs. They’re like 50-50 or even worse. They’re not even winning and they’re literally cheating. These guys [who miss weight] are cheaters at this point. If they’re not doing performance-enhancing drugs, they’ve figured out another way to make it. This guy was willing to give away his whole purse, what does that tell you? He wanted to give away not 20 percent, he wanted to give away his whole purse. So they really have to come up with something because this looks like a problem. It’s just not right and everybody’s already forgotten about it. He didn’t make weight and they already moved past that. It’s not two years down the line, it’s two days down the line. It’s actually two days. It’s already over. Nobody mentions the weight at this point. They’re gonna have to come up with something because it looks like it’s worth a couple thousand dollars here and there.”
Till did apologize before and after the fight for missing weight, which some reports suggested was due to a family emergency the day before weigh-ins.
Longo sees the situation as a red flag for the future of the sport, mainly due to how Till acted after the victory.
“This was a big fight for that kid and I think it’s a red flag for what’s to come in the future,” Longo said. “Even though he got the W, he’s really acting like he did something tremendous. He really didn’t do anything until the fifth round. I do think he’s a talented guy, big strong kid, and he’s gonna bring it so I’m curious to see what happens with him in the future but that fight, I thought, was an easy fight to score and I would’ve scored that for Wonderboy without a doubt.”
UFC President Dana White has echoed some of the statements made by Longo, saying that Till needs to be more professional in future opportunities.
