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FIGHT ODDS

How It was Booked: A History of Interactions Between Darren Till & Jorge Masvidal

Abhinav KiniMar 07, 2019
UFC Fight Night 147 takes place at the O2 Arena in London on March 16 and will be headlined a by a fan-friendly welterweight bout between Darren Till (17-1-1) and Jorge Masvidal (32-13). Both fighters are primarily strikers and are known to be game opponents, so it's not surprising that the pair aren't indulging in trash talk and are more respectful of each other ahead of their main event clash.

How did they interact before the fight was booked, though? Let's take a look at a history of their interactions leading to a fight that was more than a year in the making.

Best striker at 170 pounds?


Till and Masvidal didn't really interact or talk about each other until 2018, but there is one interesting tweet from the Liverpool native when he was responding to a fan. When asked who the best striker in the welterweight division was after him and whether it was Masvidal, Till jokingly responded.



UFC Liverpool


In early 2018, there was the big news that the Ultimate Fighting Championship would be heading to Liverpool for the first time in May with Till headlining the event. However, he had no opponent at the time. He would eventually face Stephen Thompson and win an extremely close unanimous decision. Before that, the 26-year-old wanted Masvidal as his dance partner.





Masvidal was intent on fighting in July but would mention Till's name in a positive manner a few days later while in a back-and-forth with Kamaru Usman, who recently became the new welterweight champion at UFC 235.

Usman, at the time, claimed "Gamebred" was one of many welterweights refusing to fight him which Masvidal balked at.





Meanwhile, following his win over Thompson, Till still wanted Masvidal as a potential next opponent, although there were other names on his short list as well.



Fight finally gets made


Although he wanted to face another contender next, circumstances saw Till challenge Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title next at UFC 228 in September. It was a losing effort, however, as the Englishman was submitted by Woodley in the second round.

Meanwhile, Masvidal seemed to be penciled in for a return against Nick Diaz for UFC 235 according to an ESPN report late last year. However, it never came to fruition, and Masvidal was struggling to find an opponent, particularly for UFC on ESPN 3 which was initially taking place in his hometown of Miami on April 27. The Cuban-American would then reach out to Till in January and offered that they both fought.





The fight was then confirmed just a few days later.