Morning Report: Ray Longo says Darren Till was ‘cheating’ by missing weight, ‘did nothing’ vs. Stephen Thompson

Speaking on the Anik and Florian podcast recently, Ray Longo stuck up for Stephen Thompson, saying that the bout was an easy one to score and that even though “Wonderboy” didn’t do much, he still did more than Till.

“I really thought it was an easy fight to score – minimum three rounds to two for Wonderboy, maybe four,” Longo said. “When they announced those scores – 49-46 – I thought it was definitely him. It’s not an exciting fight, a very tactical chess game, but I just think that Darren Till did nothing. It’s not even what Wonderboy did, it’s what Darren Till didn’t do. Add in the fact that he missed weight, I just think it’s a no win situation for him in that fight.

“It was a close fight, there’s no question about that, but I just don’t know how you give any of those first three rounds to Darren Till. I looked at one or two rounds over again and it’s just weird. He really didn’t do anything. There was a lot of posturing. Wonderboy at least caught him coming in a couple of times, I thought. I guess you can’t leave it to the judges.”

Longo is one half of the Serra-Longo fight team that is responsible for training UFC stars Chris Weidman, Al Iaquinta, Aljamain Sterling, and more; he also has had a working relationship with Thompson for years. “Wonderboy” frequently spars with some of the Serra-Longo fight team and his brother is married to Weidman’s sister. This connection could be coloring Longo’s interpretation of the bout but the outcome was fairly controversial, not just because many disagreed with Till getting the win but because of the issues the day before the fight. Till was unable to make the 171 pound weight limit and so a catchweight bout had to be negotiated and that’s what really grinds Longo’s gears. Longo says that with so many fighters missing weight these days, it’s even worse than taking PEDs as far as gaining an advantage inside the cage goes.

“I think they’re gonna have to readdress this because at the end of the day it’s cheating,” Longo said. “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.”

After missing weight, Till reportedly offered to pay Thompson his entire purse for missing weight but ultimately was only required to give up 30 percent of his fight purse to keep the fight going forward at a catchweight. In the end though, that exchange appears to have been a good one for Till who jumped up to No. 2 in the UFC welterweight rankings – one spot above Wonderboy – and positioned himself for a potential title shot or title eliminator bout later this year. If he does get that opportunity though, Longo says this weight issue could be a “red flag” going forward.

“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.”