Darren Till and Tyron Woodley headlined UFC 228, as the two fighters faced off, with Woodley defending his Welterweight Championship against the challenger from Liverpool. The drama started even before the fight, with the weigh-in being the scene of a huge statement from Till, where he gave the double fingers to all those who had doubted he could make the weight.
He weighed in at 169 pounds, 1 pound less than what he had been required to lose for the Championship, while Woodley found himself having to weigh-in twice, as he came in a pound over the required weight on the first attempt.
Things heated up even more when they finally came face to face in the Octagon. Both fighters had a lot to prove, as Woodley was coming into the fight as the Underdog, and needed to show the world that he deserved the UFC Welterweight Championship despite all the controversy.
Darren Till, on the other hand, came in as the favourite, and a win here would hand him the right to be considered a top-tier fighter in the UFC. Unfortunately for him, it was Woodley who emerged as the winner, and he did so in an extremely convincing manner!
Without further ado, let's get into what happened at UFC 228 when Darren Till faced Tyron Woodley for the Welterweight Championship.
#3 The Testing Out Phase
At the beginning of the bout, the first round saw both men test each other, and push one another to see how far they were willing to go. With the one-punch power of Woodley well known, Till was cautious early on and dodged a few knockout attempts made by the Champion.
Woodley kept going for the right to the face, to take Till down, but it was not to be; at least not in the first round. Both men were overly cautious and did not take any unnecessary risks.
#2 The Stamina and Durability of Darren Till
The beginning of the second round saw things turn drastically in the favour of Tyron Woodley. He landed the right and took down Till to the ground, and there he followed up with blow after blow. The challenger displayed incredible resolve to put up a fight from that position as he kept trying to get his guard up despite being hit with devastating elbows one after the other.
Where any other man would have been knocked out clean, Till hung on to dear life, and would not give up. He took each blow and tried to give some back to Woodley, clinging onto him to reduce the distance between the two.
It was only when the D'Arce choke was locked in that he admitted defeat and submitted to the Champion. The fact that he was able to last that long is a testament to his spirit, and he impressed and won the hearts of everyone watching.
#1 Critics silenced
Heading into the Welterweight Championship Match, Tyron Woodley had been the incomprehensible underdog despite being the champion. Having not defended his title for a very long time, he was expected to have grown soft.
The people who doubted Woodley were all over the internet, and he entered the fight with most people expecting Till to emerge as the new Welterweight Champion.
However, that is not how things worked out.
Woodley knocked down Till in the second round and then hit him with a continuous ground and pound, with vicious elbows and punches tiring him out. When that was not enough to take Till out of the fight, he locked in the D'Arce choke and made him submit.
Gone was the Champion that no one expected to win. Woodley came out looking confident and indomitable. Now, set to face Colby Covington next, he will prepare for his next fight and possible next shock victory. Only this time, it may not be a shock.
Was there anything that struck your mind about the main event from UFC 228? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.