“I feel like I won that last fight against Till and I think a lot of fans agree with me. If he does win, I would love to have that rematch.”
Darren Till walked away with the unanimous decision win over Stephen Thompson at UFC Fight Night 130, but many fans scored the bout for ‘Wonderboy.’
That’s why if Darren Till beats Tyron Woodley to win the welterweight title this Saturday at UFC 228, Thompson feels it would make sense for Ultimate Fighting Championship to book the rematch – this time with a UFC title on the line.
“If that does happen, hopefully that puts me up closer to a (title) fight,” Thompson said on a recent edition of the Ariel Helwani MMA Show, per MMA Mania’s Adam Guillen Jr. “That would be the right way to go, but as you know it’s very hard to predict. But I am leaning that way, the needle is leaning towards Till a little bit.
“If he (Till) goes out there and does what I know he can and if he is smart about it, he can win. And that would set me up perfectly, I would think, for another rematch, Of course you got guys above me,” he added. “Colby Covington might get the next shot and you got (Kamaru) Usman moving up the rankings. You got those guys, but I feel like I won that last fight against Till an I think a lot of fights agree with me. If he does win, I would love to have that rematch.”
If things don’t go according to plan, however, and Till either loses or the UFC books him against another opponent, 35-year-old Thompson is still interested in a fight with former welterweight champion, Robbie Lawler.
“To be honest, I would love to fight Robbie, I have been wanting to fight this guy for a long time and I am a big fan of his, even back in his Strikeforce where he was just knocking dudes out. He is one of those grinders, man, he don’t care and he just goes out there to fight. That’s why I’m a fan and been wanting to fight him for a while.”
Thompson vs. Lawler is the matchup that makes the most sense from a rankings perspective, given that Thompson has already fallen short to win the UFC title on two separate occasions. But a Till-Thompson rematch carries a strong narrative and could be what’s best for business.
Whatever the future holds, Thompson will be keeping a keen eye on the UFC 228 main event between Woodley and Till, which takes place this Saturday, September 8 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas
