Stephen Thompson will fight Darren Till in the headliner of UFC Liverpool. A former title contender, Thompson will be looking to get back into the title picture with a winner while Till has been undefeated so far in his career.
Despite having a main-event fight coming up, Thompson is not impressed by the whole UFC matchmaking. During a recent interview with Bloody Elbow, Thompson slammed the UFC’s love for fake belts. He said that the interim titles diminish the value of the actual championship.
“It almost diminishes the value of the title, because they’re just throwing it out there — it’s like, ‘You can fight for an interim title, sure. I don’t think they should be fighting for an interim title. If [Woodley] says he’ll be back in July or August, then just say, ‘Hey, the winner of this will fight for the title.’ I don’t know what the UFC is playing at or what their thinking is when it comes to the interim title. But they’re just like, ‘You can fight for it anytime. Anybody can fight for an interim title,” Thompson told.
He further went on to say that the UFC Politics comes to play while booking fights including his showdown against Darren Till.
“I think it’s just politics. I think that they are trying to make that market out there (in Liverpool). And he’s calling me out, so why not make that happen? I fought for the title twice, and I guess they don’t want to see it again until I prove myself again,” he said.
The UFC Liverpool showdown
Stephen Thompson currently holds a professional record of 14-2 to his name and will be heading into the fight against Till on the back of a win against Jorge Masvidal. Prior to this, he fought reigning champion Tyron Woodley twice with one fight ending in a draw while the other ended in defeat for Thompson. As for Till, he is 16-0 as of now and is coming off a huge win against Donald Cerrone.
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