UFC Liverpool live blog: Thompson vs. Till

This is the UFC Liverpool live blog for Stephen Thompson vs. Darren Till, a catchweight bout at Sunday’s UFC event at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England.

The bout will be contested at 174.5 pounds after Till failed to hit the welterweight mark at Saturday’s weigh-ins.

Till, a Liverpool native undefeated in 17 professional bouts, fights Thompson, a two-time UFC welterweight title challenger, in the main event.

Check out the UFC Livepool live blog below.

Round 1: The referee for this main event bout is Marc Goddard. Both men light on their feet to start, probing with low kicks. It’s Till who’s holding the center of the Octagon with Thompson searching for an angle as he darts around him. Mostly feeling each other out with half a round to go. Thompson with a quick 1-2 over the top. He darts forward and scores again with a straight punch. Straight right to the body by Thompson. Till attempts a spinning backfist, but it doesn’t land clean. Both men hesitant to throw and the round ends with little major strikes of note connecting.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9, Thompson.

Round 2: Till looking for the big left hand early Thompson dodges out of the way. They trade head kick attempts, neither getting caught. Kick to the body by Thompson. Both men scoring with outside leg kicks. Punch to the body by Thompson, Till clinches up as they get in close and he lands a knee to Thompson’s side. They break apart quickly. Till connects with a pair of leg kicks. Till darts his head forward and tries to goad Thompson into a mistake, then dodges a head kick. Till just pushes Thompson away. Side kick by Thompson, a follow-up spin kick to the head misses.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9, Till. Overall 19-19.

Round 3: Till walks Thompson all the way over to the fence and “Wonderboy” just runs out of there before Till can start throwing. Jab up top by Thompson, then a body punch. Till getting more aggressive but he can’t track Thompson down. Till doubles up on a jab and connects. Jab lands again for Till. Body kick by Thompson. Till ducks in and catches a counter-punch from Thompson. Another counter-punch connects for Thompson. Straight left by Till. Thompson gets in with the 1-2, but Till is reacting like his eye was poked. Goddard calls for a pause in the action and the fight resumes almost immediately. Left hand lands for Till, but Thompson pushes him back with a side kick. Wild spinning attack by Till misses, but they both let go with a flurry of strikes in the closing seconds. Still not much to score through three rounds.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9, Thompson. Overall 29-28, Thompson.

Round 4: Thompson comes over the top with the 1-2 again, Till counters with a knee to the body. Straight right from Thompson scores. Till steps in and lands a straight left. Kick to the lead leg by Till. Left hand by Thompson glances off Till’s forehead. Till gets a body lock and pushes Thompson to the fence. He gets an elbow as they break and reset in the center of the cage. Jabs by Till are once again met with a kick to the body from Thompson. The jab is working for Till, but Thompson easily avoids the heavier follow-up punches. Inside leg kick scores for Thompson. Till hunting for that left hand and Thompson just dodges out of the way. Another close one,

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9, Thompson. Overall 39-37, Thompson.

Round 5: Crowd as loud as ever as the final frame kicks off. After another tentative minute, Till darts in to land a good jab. Thompson answers with a straight kick to the body. Spinning kick by Till catches nothing but air. Thompson fires a karate kick of his own that misses. Till backing Thompson up against the cage. Thompson gets out of there in a hurry. They trade leg kicks. Jab by Till. Body kick by Thompson. That’s been the most frequent exchange of the contest. Out of nowhere, Till finally lands the big left hand and Thompson goes down. He recovers from the knockdown before Till can pursue the finish. Back in the center, Thompson hits Till with a left that Till shakes off. Takedown attempt by Thompson gets stuffed. The pace slows back down and little of consequence is landed in the final minute. The clearest round of the fight goes to Till, but the final scores could easily go either way.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9, Till. Overall 48-47, Thompson.

Official result: Darren Till def. Stephen Thompson via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)