After barely scraping past Stephen Thompson in his most recent bout, it seemed as though promising undefeated Welterweight contender Darren Till would have to score one more big win to earn a 170-pound title shot. But, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) — seeing the star potential for the charismatic British striker — didn’t want to wait, booking Till opposite division champion, Tyron Woodley, in UFC 228’s pay-per-view (PPV) main event inside American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
And it turned out to be a bit premature, as Woodley retained his belt once again thanks to a mix of vicious ground-and-pound topped off with a throat-crushing choke.
Till came out looking for a fight and Woodley was more than willing to oblige, exploding as “The Gorilla” tried to back him into a corner. Woodley got him locked up against the fence and the two battled for position, as Till defended the attempted takedown well. The referee eventually separated them and Till went back into Stalk Mode. Woodley tried to keep him at bay with a headkick, which Till was able to block. Woodley reached in for a single-leg takedown, but Till was able to stuff it and work his way to the fence where the action stalled once again. Till continued to chase Woodley for the remainder of the round, but he was unable to get anything going.
Till came walking in straight up to start the second round and Woodley drilled him with a short shot that dropped him to the canvas. Woodley followed him to the floor and began to unleash hell, drilling Till with clean shots and bouncing countless elbows off his forehead. Till was somehow able to remain conscious and swim out of danger, but Woodley was all over him like white on rice. Woodley opened up a gash on Till’s forehead and continued to drop elbows as Till was somehow able to survive the brutal onslaught. With one minute remaining, Woodley slowed his pace and angled for a d’arce choke since Till was clearly not going to get punched out. He cinched it in tight and Till hung on for as long as he could before finally tapping to the submission.
Wow, what an incredible all-around performance from Woodley, who was awarded with his Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt by his coaches immediately after the bout concluded. He was overtaken with emotion and broke down in tears in the middle of the cage. It was an awesome win for the oft-maligned champion, who showed the killer instinct that ultimately won him the belt more than two years ago.
“Tyquil” no more ... Colby Covington, where you at?
For complete UFC 228: “Woodley vs. Till” results, including play-by-play updates, click here.
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