UFC Liverpool Main Event Intact After Darren Till and Stephen Thompson Agree to Strict Terms
The UFC Fight Night 130: Thompson vs. Till main event was cast into the shadow of doubt following Saturday's early morning official weigh-in, but will move ahead after the fighters agreed to terms.
Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson easily hit the mark, weighing 171 pounds, as he was one of the first fighters on the scale. His opponent, however, was nowhere to be seen.
The clock wound down and, as the two-hour window came to a close, Darren Till still had not stepped on the scale. A short time later, UFC officials finally emerged and said due to a "family emergency," Till had been given an extra hour to make weight, but he was already in the hotel where the weigh-ins were being held.
Till stepped on the scale about 25 minutes later weighing 174.5 pounds, which would be his final and official weight.
That, of course, left the bout in question, as there was no word at that time if Thompson had yet agreed to remain in the fight with Till weigh-ing 3.5 pounds over the limit for a welterweight non-title fight.
That question was answered a couple hours later at the UFC Liverpool ceremonial weigh-in, where both fighters again stepped on the scale and faced off for the crowd and the cameras. It was then announced that Till had agreed to give up 30-percent of his fight purse to keep the fight intact.
In addition to the fine, Till also agreed to a stipulation on his weight. He must weigh-in again on Sunday at 1 p.m. local time, where he cannot weight more than 188 pounds.
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"I just want to apologize for missing weight, s--- happens. So I'm sorry about that," Till said at the ceremonial weigh-in. "But make no mistake, I still believe that I am the greatest and, tomorrow, I know I can finish Stephen Thompson. I have all respect in the world for (Thompson). I'm too good; I'm just too intelligent. I know I'm gonna win."
Till's fellow Liverpudlian Molly McCann also missed weight, as she stepped on the scale at 127 pounds for her flyweight fight with Gillian Robertson, who weighed 125 pounds. Being 1 pound heavier than allowable for a non-title flyweight bout, McCann was fined 20-percent of her fight purse. Like Till, she must weigh-in again on Sunday, and is not allowed to weigh more than 136 pounds.
