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The UFC brought their world-famous octagon to Poland for only the second time, this past weekend, for UFC Fight Night: Cerrone vs Till, but whose stock rose and whose fell during an action-packed night in Gdansk?
Let’s look at the event’s big winners and losers.
Winner: Darren Till
There was no bigger winner on the night than Britain’s Darren Till. The 24-year-old Liverpudlian delivered a punch-perfect performance to stop Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone inside a round, then put the rest of the welterweight division on notice.
Despite being a huge welterweight, Till made weight comfortably, hitting championship weight during Friday’s early-morning weigh-ins.
Such was his confidence at making weight that he even had time to enjoy a glass of Coke the night before as he toasted us in the hotel bar just hours before stepping on the scale.
And on fight night itself, Till barely put a foot, or a fist, wrong as he forced Cerrone back from the off, comfortably stuffing the American’s early takedown attempt before lighting up ‘Cowboy’ with strikes, breaking his nose and forcing a TKO stoppage in just four minutes, 20 seconds.
The Brit then spoke confidently and convincingly in his post-fight press conference, saying he needs two more wins before he’ll be in a position to challenge for the title.
Loser: Donald Cerrone
Cerrone’s career has seen him involved in barnburner fights with some of the toughest men to ever step into the octagon, but against Till on Saturday night, it was a bridge too far for ‘Cowboy’.
The American was in relaxed, happy mood all week (he even stole of my fries in the hotel bar the day before he was due to weigh in!), but on fight night, he was outmatched and outgunned against a younger, bigger, more powerful opponent.
Some are already suggesting Cerrone should drop back down to lightweight, but let’s not forget this is a man who went the distance with former world champion Robbie Lawler just a few months ago.
The fact he was finished quickly says more about Till than it does about Cerrone’s durability.
Make no mistake, ‘Cowboy’ will be back.
Winner: Karolina Kowalkiewicz
The quietly-spoken Pole politely rebuffed any suggestions her two-fight losing skid was putting her under any pressure heading into her bout with Jodie Esquibel.
Indeed, she said the only pressure comes from not being able to eat cookies while making weight!
She was as calm and relaxed as always as she made her way to the octagon, winking to the camera and leaning back against the cage in typically laid-back fashion.
But once the fight started, Kowalkiewicz went into overdrive. She outstruck Esquibel — a former pro boxer — by 142 to 66 en route to a landslide decision victory.
After the bout, she called for a bout with fellow strawweight contender Jessica Andrade as he bids to work her way back to a rematch with fellow Pole and reigning UFC champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Winner: Marcin Held
The Polish grappling ace had a nightmare start to his UFC career, losing three fights in a row as the doubters questioned his position as a legitimate UFC fighter.
But Held finally proved those doubters wrong in Gdansk with a strong performance to outpoint Nasrat Haqparast over three hard-fought rounds in their preliminary-card bout.
Held used his grappling skills to keep Haqparast guessing and held on down the stretch to capture a unanimous decision victory.
All three judges scored the fight 30-27 to the Pole, but most of my media colleagues thought it was much closer than that, with the Pole edging it 29-28.
It was the last fight of his current UFC contract, and now Held hopes the UFC will reward his victory with a new deal and a rematch with one of the three men who beat him earlier in his UFC career: Diego Sanchez, Joe Lauzon or Damir Hadzovic.
Winner: Andre Fili
Team Alpha Male featherweight Andre Fili was ready for action the moment he landed in Gdansk.
And he carried that determination and intensity into the Octagon on fight night, where he defeated ‘The Russian Hammer’ Artem Lobov after a superb three-round performance that showcased ‘Touchy’ Fili’s well-rounded MMA game.
Fili used stick-and-move tactics early on and dropped Lobov with a huge head kick late in the opening round.
As the fight went on, Fili started to bring his wrestling into play, as he repeatedly took down Lobov during the final round to help secure a convincing win on the scorecards.
Fili’s win marked a good night for Team Alpha Male, with his featherweight teammate Josh Emmett also picking up an impressive win in the opening bout of the night.
Loser: Artem Lobov
It just wasn’t Artem Lobov’s night in Gdansk.
‘The Russian Hammer’ found Andre Fili just that little bit too elusive, as the Team Alpha Male man used his movement to keep Lobov guessing early on, then switched to his wrestling as the pace of the fight slowed down the stretch.
Though he did have his successes with his left hand and some thumping body kicks, Lobov wasn’t able to make the breakthrough and land the sort of strike that would turn the bout in his favour.
The presence of an effervescent Conor McGregor at octagonside provided support, but may have become more of a distraction, as the UFC superstar’s antics outside the cage fence started to affect the action inside it, as referee Marc Goddard halted proceedings to order the Dubliner back to his seat.
After the fight, Lobov hinted that he wasn’t sure where his career would go next, but who wouldn't love to see him stick around? He may have a mixed record, but that’s down in large part to his willingness to step in and fight anybody. In that respect, he’s a matchmaker’s dream.
Lobov was one of the stars of fight week, with his weigh-in ‘Choo Choo’ speech and his deadpan one-liners making his pre-fight movements essential viewing. And he’s always an absolute pleasure to deal with from a media perspective.
Fingers crossed Lobov’s enthusiasm will quickly return, and we’ll see him back in the octagon soon.
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