Mas-sive KO leaves Till down ‘n out
JORGE MASVIDAL proved the real ‘king of the swingers’ after knocking out Darren ‘The Gorilla’ Till at UFC Fight Night 147 at the
O2 Arena. Liverpool welterweight Till swung first, sending his opponent to the floor in the first round, but Masvidal swung hardest in front of more than
16,000 MMA fans. Having established a foothold in the fight, the Miami native bounced Till’s head off the canvas after two concussive overhand lefts midway through the second round.
Red-hot favourite Till, whose only previous defeat was to then champion Tyron Woodley in September, took several minutes to get to his feet after Saturday’s explosive main event.
Rage
Masvidal said: “That was definitely the most shots I have taken in a fight. He came out like a bat out of hell.
“He had a really good lead hand that was luring me to sleep, and the first time he touched me, I didn’t even see it. I woke up on my butt with him on top of me, trying to end me.
“I remember thinking, ‘If you let me get up from here I am going to kill you’.
“Then the rage hit, the hope was inside me and he got a taste of it.
“I didn’t know if it was going to be in the second, third, fourth or fifth but I knew I was going to stop him.
“It was a bomb. He got a baseball bat to the dome.”
Former ‘backyard brawler’ Masvidal even had the energy for some more monkey business backstage after punching Birmingham welterweight Leon Edwards, who won a split decision fight against Gunnar Nelson in the co-main event.
“He is one of these hooligans talking crap on social media,” added ‘Gamebred’.
“I was doing an interview and this hooligan comes by saying, ‘July, you’re going to get your arse kicked in July’.
“Well, maybe I don’t want to wait until July. Maybe you’re not worth a training camp.
“As I walk up to him, I had my arms behind my back to signal I am not coming for problems. But he puts his hands up and walks towards me.
“Where I come from if you do that, you’re going to punch me, and that’s not going to happen.
“So I had to give him the three-piece with soda (three quick punches) and just glide out of there.”
There was good news for the vocal home crowd as Londoner Nathaniel Wood recorded his third straight submission victory in the UFC’s bantamweight division, Jose Quinonez tapping out to a rear-naked choke in round two.
It was also announced that retired middleweight Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping, Britain’s only UFC champion, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in July.