EXCLUSIVE | Stephen Thompson shares his theory on why the UFC is pushing Darren Till so hard

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson was not happy to learn that his most recent opponent Darren Till was receiving a title shot against reigning UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley at UFC 228.

“Wonderboy” suffered a controversial decision loss to the “Gorilla” this past May in Till’s hometown of Liverpool.

Despite missing weight in two of his last four octagon appearances, including his most recent bout with Thompson, Darren Till was granted a title opportunity against Tyron Woodley on September 8 in Dallas by the UFC.

In a recent interview with BJPENN.com’s Chris Taylor, Stephen Thompson was asked if the roles were reversed and he had been awarded the decision win over Darren Till at UFC Liverpool, this after missing weight by 3.5-pounds, if he felt the UFC would have given him the same treatment (a title shot at UFC 228).

“No,” Thompson quickly responded. “Heck no! I don’t think so at least”

Stephen Thompson then shared his theory on why the UFC is pushing Darren Till so hard.

“The only thing that makes sense to me about it all is that Michael Bisping was on his way out. The UFC knew that and they really don’t have a whole lot of people to promote from the United Kingdom. So they have this loud mouth kid, who is tough and literally just fell into their lap so now they’re pushing him forward. That’s all I can really see. It doesn’t make sense. There’s really no other scenario that makes sense. None of this makes sense to be honest. Why is this fight even happening?”

Thompson continued:

“I remember Darren Till bragging in the lead up to our fight that he couldn’t believe the UFC was letting him cut to 170 because he is such a big guy and what not. Then he didn’t even make weight for the fight. He wasn’t even close. I mean why brag about that? If you’re such a big tough dude then why aren’t you fighting in your natural weight class? Let’s just hope he makes the weight on September 8.”

Do you think Darren Till will be able to make the championship weight of 170-pounds for his slated title fight with Tyron Woodley at UFC 228? Sound off PENN Nation!