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#4 Darren Till vs. Kelvin Gastelum (Middleweight)
Darren Till entered to Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline and the fans inside the MSG loved it as they sang along as he made his way to the Octagon.
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As you'd know, this was Till's UFC Middleweight debut and he was thrown into the deep end of the division against former title contender Kelvin Gastelum, who was coming off a controversial weigh-in fiasco.
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Round 1: Gastelum was in southpaw while Till started in the orthodox position. Both fighters clinched within ten seconds against the cage.
Darren Till tested Gastelum's strength in the clinch before breaking it up. The British fighter fired off a few leg kicks before another clinch near the fence. Till pushed Gastelum against the fence and both men looked to overpower each other in the battle of the clinch.
Gastelum had Till in a body lock with a few incoming knees to the body. They were back in the centre with two minutes left to go. Gastelum got into the pocket for a left-hand strike but he ran out of space. Till touched the inside of Gastelum's leg with a kick. The former interim UFC Middleweight Champion cut the distance for a left-hand combination.
Till kept chipping away with the leg kicks and it had already done its damage as Gastelum's leg looked red on the outside.
The Gorilla landed a combination to end a very good round in which he fought smartly and made good reads on Gastelum.
Round 2: Gastelum came in with a strong leg kick to kick the second round off.
Gastelum connected with a 1-2 while Till stayed light on his feet. The Gorilla faked and stuttered which made it difficult for Gastelum to get his hands on Till.
Till connected with a left hand from the top. He mixed up the leg kicks with punches from the top and was getting the better of Gastelum.
They clinched for a few seconds again before Gastelum got in a good elbow on the break. Till got poked in the eye but that didn't hold up the fight for long.
Gastelum connected with a snappy outside leg kick. The #2 ranked Middleweight locked up with Till and pushed the fight towards the cage. Kelvin landed another solid outside leg kick.
However, Gastelum couldn't get his hands on Till as the former kept circling. Gastelum changed levels and went for a takedown but Till kept his posture to avoid going down. There were a few jeers from the crowd as the round came to an end.
Round 3: Gastelum could be two rounds down and he needed a big round to get the judges on his side.
He came in hot with two leg kicks but Till caught the third one and cracked with a left. Gastelum tagged his opponent with a left. Till replied with a step-in elbow.
Gastelum went for a left leg kick but the former Welterweight caught it. Kelvin lost balance and went down before getting right back up.
They clinched and Till landed a nice knee in the pocket. Gastelum lost balance again and Darren attempted a knee. However, Gastelum got back up and he began following Till again with 1 minute left on the clock.
Gastelum got Till down with a double leg takedown and briefly got the back, however, he couldn't keep his Middleweight debutant down.
Gastelum landed another takedown. Till got right back up and ate a 1-2. Kelvin pushed forward for a late finish but it was a little too late.
Result: Darren Till def. Kelvin Gastelum via split decision (27-30,29-28, 30-27)
The co-main event, in all honesty, didn't live up to all the hype. In Till's defence, he fought with a gameplan which was to pepper Gastelum's legs with kicks and to just stay out of the former interim Middleweight Champion's reach. Till also got in the more significant head strikes when there was an opening and that was the difference between the two men.
It may not have been the most entertaining of fights but Till would take the win after coming off two brutal losses.
