The best and worst from UFC Fight Night 147: Till vs. Masvidal

The UFC’s latest effort in the UK – Fight Night 147 – went down from London last night, and it was a bit of a forgettable show to be honest, although the main event of Darren Till vs. Jorge Masvidal ended up topping things off with a serious bang.

Most of the fights actually went down pretty well and delivered some decent action, but with 7 fights going the distance on a 12-fight card, the show seemed to drag more than the last couple of UFC shows on ESPN+.

Here are the best and worst moments from UFC Fight Night 147: Till vs. Masvidal.

#1 Best: Masvidal picks up probably the biggest win of his career

Jorge Masvidal has always been his own worst enemy when it comes to rising up into the UFC title picture – essentially, he’s always been capable of greatness, as we saw in his victories over the likes of Cezar Ferreira and Donald Cerrone, but he was also capable of sabotaging himself with his inconsistency – a trait that led to disappointing losses against the likes of Demian Maia and Al Iaquinta.

Well, Masvidal may still turn out to be inconsistent, but he picked up arguably the biggest win of his career last night by knocking out Darren Till in brutal fashion. It was a bad start for ‘Gamebred’, as Till dropped him with the first left hand he threw, and then largely pieced him up with heavy shots throughout the first round. In the second though, Masvidal appeared to find his range, and began to catch Till with quick counter shots and kicks to the body.

Finally, as ‘The Gorilla’ stepped off, Masvidal caught him with a thunderous left hook that switched off his lights instantly, and followed with another left on his way down and a follow-up shot too. Till was left unconscious for quite a while after the fight, victim to one of the most violent and stunning knockouts in recent memory.

Till might not be the best fighter Masvidal has beaten, but this was a huge win for the veteran given the reception Till got from the London crowd and the fact that he was ranked #3 in the division coming in.

Masvidal probably won’t get a title shot off the back of this – his next fight might actually be lined up – but he’s definitely in the title picture now and who knows how far he can go if he can be more consistent going forward.

#1 Worst: Masvidal morphs into a Diaz brother after the show

Masvidal was involved in a backstage confrontation with Leon Edwards following his win

Okay, so the wild backstage incident between Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards didn’t happen during the show per se, but bear with me anyway. For those who haven’t seen the footage, essentially Edwards confronted Masvidal backstage to challenge him to a future fight, only to be sucker-punched by ‘Gamebred’ before the two could be separated.

Quite why Masvidal decided to behave in such a way is baffling, really, particularly when you consider he’d been thoroughly classy in victory earlier, putting Darren Till over as a tough opponent and stating that his future in the sport would be bright.

Sure, Edwards wasn’t really respectful with his trash talk, but it’s clear now that such words are only ever designed to build a fight – meaning a fight in the Octagon that can draw money, not a backstage brawl.

Edwards probably wasn’t hurt by the punches and the footage may well mean the inevitable Masvidal/Edwards clash is a bigger deal at some point down the road, but it’s still a pity that ‘Gamebred’ had to resort to such shameful behaviour, more expected from someone like one of the Diaz brothers than a long-time veteran. This was a seriously disappointing incident.

#2 Best: The UK might have a brand new hero

Nathaniel Wood looked fantastic in his win over Jose Quinonez

Last night showcased a big high and a big low for MMA in the UK; Michael Bisping, probably the greatest fighter ever produced by the country, was announced as being inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame following a storied career that saw him win the UFC Middleweight title. And then Darren Till – the guy the UFC have been pushing as the UK’s next great hope – lost in violent fashion in the main event despite having the show built around him.

Till’s loss may not matter in the long term, though, as the UK may well have stumbled upon another favourite son last night in the form of Nathaniel Wood. ‘The Prospect’ – a protégé of former Bantamweight title contender Brad Pickett – looked awesome in his victory over Jose Quinonez, outstriking the Mexican before submitting him in the second round with a rear-naked choke.

Sure, Wood’s victims thus far – Quinonez, Andre Ewell and Johnny Eduardo – aren’t top-level contenders at 135lbs, but the young Londoner, who was fighting a stone’s throw from where he grew up last night, clearly has a ton of natural talent and could definitely end up rising up the ranks in the near future.

Wood is still only 25 years old and it’s important that the UFC don’t rush him up those ranks – Bantamweight is arguably the most loaded division in the promotion – but they definitely appear to have something special in him – and the UK could well have their next big star now Bisping is gone and Till appears to have slipped somewhat.

#2 Worst: Bad refereeing mars Roberts vs. Silva

Referee Kevin Sataki made a major gaffe by stopping the fight between Danny Roberts and Claudio Silva

I’m not going to beat around the bush here – Danny Roberts was robbed by the referee in his fight with Claudio Silva last night. Admittedly, ‘Hot Chocolate’ may have lost a decision had the fight gone the distance – Silva clearly took the first round and the second and third could’ve gone either way – but he still deserved more than what he got.

Trapped in a semi-tight armbar, Roberts appeared to be en route to escaping when referee Kevin Sataki stepped in to stop the fight.

The reason? Apparently Roberts had verbally submitted – except he hadn’t. At worst, he’d groaned with the effort of trying to free himself from the hold and perhaps with a bit of pain, but at the end of the day, we’ve seen fighters escape tighter armbars than that one in the past. Simply put, it was a huge gaffe from Sataki, who I can’t recall seeing referee in the UFC prior to last night.

After that performance, he may not be back, too. Roberts was gutted with such a ridiculous loss but thankfully UFC President Dana White appeared to take his side, slamming Sataki on Twitter after the show. Hopefully the UFC can run the fight back – it was an entertaining one – because I doubt Silva is happy with such a ridiculous win either.

#3 Best: Reyes toughs it out to take a big win

Dominick Reyes gutted out a tough win over Volkan Oezdemir

I’m probably in the minority here but I loved the Light-Heavyweight clash between Dominick Reyes and Volkan Oezdemir. It didn’t go down how I expected – I picked Reyes to steamroll the Swiss fighter – but in the end ‘The Devastator’ toughed it out after a tricky first round and picked up the biggest victory of his UFC career to date.

Judging by this, Reyes definitely isn’t ready for Jon Jones just yet – he took some huge shots from Oezdemir in the first round in particular, allowing ‘No Time’ to get into range far too easily, but by the end of the fight it was clear who was the predator; Reyes was hitting Oezdemir with some huge shots to the body in particular and opening up with some nice combinations to hurt the former title challenger too.

In an aging division, Reyes is still young at 29 years old, and if he ever wants to break into real title contention – or hold the title in fact – he’ll need to get through tough gutter-wars like this one and last night was an indication that he’s capable of doing that – he isn’t just a front-runner and a flashy finisher.

It wasn’t the greatest fight of all time, but Reyes vs. Oezdemir was a pretty strong effort from both men and it showed a side to ‘The Devastator’ that we hadn’t seen before. Works for me!