Report: Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson named as Darren Till’s opponent for UFC Liverpool

Earlier this week, the UFC broke the news that they would be taking the Octagon to Liverpool for the very first time. The promotion tapped one of their rising stars, Liverpool’s own Darren Till, to headline the event. All he needed was an opponent.

BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor has confirmed that 2-time Welterweight Title challenger Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson is the official victor of the ‘Darren Till UFC Liverpool’ sweepstakes. Jorge Masivdal, Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards were just three of the fighters that were also jockeying to get the spot opposite Till.

Thompson (14-2-1) got back into the win column against the aforementioned Masvidal last November at UFC 217 in New York following two unsuccessful efforts to get the title off current 170 lbs king Tyron Woodley. While Thompson is regarded as one of the most dangerous strikers in the game, he’ll have his hands full with the undefeated Till.

The Liverpool born Muay Thai practitioner’s most recent first round TKO of Donald Cerrone in Poland last October skyrocketed the 25-year-old into the top ten at welterweight. A victory over Thompson, the number one ranked fighter in the division, means his next fight may just be for the world title at welterweight, where the recently announced interim title fight between Rafael dos Anjos and Colby Covington at UFC 224 adds another new wrinkle to the division.

UFC Fight Night 130 will take place on May 27th inside of the Echo Arena. The main card will air live on FOX Sports 1 in the States with the prelims taking place on UFC Fight Pass.

Three middleweight bouts; Dan Kelly versus Tom Breese, Elias Theodorou versus Trevor Smith and Darren Stewart versus Eric Spicely were recently added to the card. A featherweight bout between Makwan Amirkhani and Jason Knight along with a Women’s Bantamweight tilt between Lina Lansberg and Gina Mazany have also been announced. Stay tuned for more details on this event in the coming days.