Till stays undefeated, Hadzovic KOs Held in early UFC Stockholm action
Welterweight: Darren Till def. Jessin Ayari via unanimous decision
Fighting for the first time in nearly 600 days, Darren Till didn't miss a beat.
The 24-year-old welterweight remained undefeated with a unanimous decision win over Jessin Ayari in the featured Fight Pass preliminary of UFC Fight Night 109 on Sunday in Stockholm, Sweden.
Following the victory, Till declared himself a contender at 170 pounds.
"I swear to God, I will win that belt!" - @darrentill2 at #UFCStockholm pic.twitter.com/SX12GRe1e3
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 28, 2017
Till is now 2-0-1 in the UFC and 14-0-1 overall. His latest win didn't come without a blemish, however, as he failed to make weight on Friday, weighing in at five pounds over the welterweight limit.
The infraction meant Till had to give 30 percent of his show purse to Ayari, but the Englishman made up for it with a solid three-round performance.
The undefeated Englishman @DarrenTill2 landing early and often here in round 1! #UFCStockholm pic.twitter.com/8E44HYgECi
— UFC (@ufc) May 28, 2017
Till repeatedly beat Ayari to the punch, hurting Ayari badly in Round 2 with a late knockdown followed by some ground-and-pound.
What a fight! @darrentill2 and @JessinAyari are going at it at #UFCStockholm! pic.twitter.com/1F0uksiJJE
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 28, 2017
BEAUTIFUL counter left from @DarrenTill2 floors Ayari and he starts landing some vicious GnP!! #UFCStockholm pic.twitter.com/qs3QM0k4Pi
— UFC (@ufc) May 28, 2017
Despite Ayari showing off a strong chin and some confident striking of his own, he fell short on the scorecards and is now 1-1 in the UFC. His professional record now sits at 16-4 after suffering his first loss in eight contests.
Lightweight: Damir Hadzovic def. Marcin Held via 3rd-round KO
Damir Hadzovic picked up his first UFC win in dramatic fashion.
After struggling to deal with Marcin Held's grappling for two rounds, Hadzovic decided he wouldn't be taken down again, and he crushed Held with a knockout knee seven seconds into the third round of their lightweight bout on Saturday.
Watch: Hadzovic KOs Held with nasty knee for comeback victory
Held showed off his prodigious grappling in the first two rounds of this one, dragging an aggressive Hadzovic to the mat and threatening with various submissions. He managed to take Hadzovic's back on multiple occasions and threatened with a rear-naked choke in Round 2:
Poland's @MarcinHeld trying to lock in the guillotine, but @DamirHadzo spins out and adds a BIG ELBOW!! #UFCStockholm pic.twitter.com/dh9R75RYiD
— UFC (@ufc) May 28, 2017
Later in the round, Held had Hadzovic in trouble again when he went for a D'Arce choke:
Great ground technique from both @MarcinHeld and @DamirHadzo at #UFCStockholm! pic.twitter.com/Sy4SrfEmTN
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) May 28, 2017
But Hadzovic survived Held's submission onslaught to make it to the final frame, where he made Held pay for a careless shot by connecting with a fight-ending counter blow. This is Hadzovic's first UFC win in two tries. He improves his pro record to 11-3, with six of those wins coming by way of knockout.
For Held, it's another bitter defeat after dropping close decisions to veterans Joe Lauzon and Diego Sanchez in his first two Octagon outings. The 25-year-old Pole has lost four of his last five bouts.