EXCLUSIVE | Stephen Thompson thinks it is bullcrap that Darren Till shot up the welterweight rankings after missing weight

Former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson (14-3-1 MMA) is coming off a controversial decision loss to Darren Till which occurred last month in Liverpool, England.

The Thompson vs. Till fight, which headlined UFC Fight Night 130, almost didn’t happen after the Liverpool native badly missed weight by coming in 3.5 pounds over the non-title welterweight limit of 171-pounds.

Despite the fact that Till missed weight, Thompson and his team agreed to continue on with the contest much to the delight of fight fans around the world.

The Till vs. Thompson fight proved to be an entertaining chess match between elite strikers and after twenty-five minutes of back and forth action the contests ruling was left in the hands of the judges.

The majority of fans and analysts on social media appeared to have scored the bout 48-47 in favor of the South Carolina native.

However, the three judges in attendance saw the fight differently and awarded Darren Till the unanimous decision victory (48-47, 49-46 x2).

Following his catchweight win over Thompson, Darren Till surged all the way up to #2 in the UFC welterweight rankings.

BJPENN.com’s Chris Taylor recently sat down with Stephen Thompson to discuss a number of different topics including what should be next for Darren Till.

“That is a good question. Obviously Tyron and Colby are going to fight to unify the welterweight belts. So I really don’t know where that leaves Darren,” said Thompson. “The fact that Till is now ranked number two doesn’t make much sense to me. Why does a guy who missed weight and didn’t have to suffer cutting through those last few pounds get to still move up the division rankings? It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

Taylor agreed with Thompson and suggested that only fighters who make weight should be eligible to move up the rankings. Taylor added that if a fight takes place at a catchweight, where one or both men fail to make weight, then that particular fight should have no future impact on any divisions rankings.

“Yeah man. You’re absolutely right. I think that was a lot of bullcrap to be honest. Obviously there was still a fight that took place, you know because we agreed to it. But I don’t think he should have been eligible to advance in the welterweight rankings. I mean he didn’t make weight. Not only that but the guy came in at 173-pounds. Then he got an hour to correct his mistake and came back even heavier then before! The dude wasn’t even trying (to make weight). That really pissed me off.”

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