Last weekend, in the main event of the UFC’s debut in Liverpool, hometown hero Darren Till picked up the biggest win of his career, defeating two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson by decision. Not everybody, however, agreed with this result.
Shortly after the judges’ verdict was read, there was an outpouring of criticism suggesting that Thompson, not Till, should have been awarded the victory.
One of the voices to weigh in on the debate was that of veteran referee “Big” John McCarthy, who is is now firmly embedded as a member of the Bellator MMA commentary team.
McCarthy gave his take on the Till vs. Thompson scoring on Twitter (h/t BloodyElbow).
Sorry but controlling the Octagon does not give you the round. @WonderboyMMA landed the cleaner harder shots in the first 3 rounds. Sad that people that are supposed to know about the sport are lacking greatly in their knowledge of what is scored in a round #AskBJM
— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) May 27, 2018
“Sorry but controlling the Octagon does not give you the round,” McCarthy said. “[Stephen Thompson] landed the cleaner harder shots in the first 3 rounds. Sad that people that are supposed to know about the sport are lacking greatly in their knowledge of what is scored in a round.”
McCarthy also followed up in a pair of subsequent Tweets, addressing a fan directly.
1/2 Thomas, I’m sure I would like you too, but just because the UFC puts something on its broadcast doesn’t mean it is scored like that. So you know, striking & or grappling will be the sole determinant of who wins a round unless they are exactly equal, then u bring in aggression https://t.co/hVtVa5jdAn
— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) May 28, 2018
“Thomas, I’m sure I would like you too, but just because the UFC puts something on its broadcast doesn’t mean it is scored like that,” McCarthy said.” So you know, striking & or grappling will be the sole determinant of who wins a round unless they are exactly equal, then u bring in aggression…”
2/2 if that is equal then the last element the judge will use is cage or Octagon Control. Oh and so you know, I’m pretty sure about this because I wrote it https://t.co/hVtVa5jdAn
— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) May 28, 2018
“If that is equal then the last element the judge will use is cage or Octagon Control,” McCarthy added. “Oh and so you know, I’m pretty sure about this because I wrote it.”
Whatever the case, Till and Thompson’s Liverpool showdown was incredibly close, and strong arguments can be made for the decision going either way. Fans will probably be debating this one for months, and even years to come!
How did you score Darren Till and Stephen Thompson’s fight?
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/29/2018.