UFC Gdansk preview: Introducing Darren Till
Who?
The short answer is: He's an undefeated, 24-year-old Muay Thai specialist from Liverpool, who mustered up the gumption to call out the surging Santiago Ponzinibbio after toying with Bojan Velickovic for three rounds at UFC Fight Night 115 last month.
Instead, he got a perennial contender in Donald Cerrone - who owns more stoppage victories than Till does fights - on just a seven-week turnaround.
Now that he's been granted the stiff test he asked for, here's a closer look at the boisterous Brit before he meets Cerrone in the welterweight main event of UFC Fight Night 118 in Gdansk, Poland on Saturday.
The surging prospect moved to Brazil as a youngster to hone what swiftly grew into a deadly striking game, and made his first walk to the Octagon in May 2015 on just nine days' notice. This, two years into a career that saw him finish all but two of 12 pro scalps and take the cage eight times in 2013 alone - a work rate not dissimilar to that of his next dance partner.
Since dispatching Wendell de Oliveira by second-round KO in his promotional debut, Till has fought Nicholas Dalby to a majority draw in a Fight of the Night and rebounded from a 19-month layoff with lopsided decisions over Jessin Ayari and the aforementioned Velickovic.
Competing in one of the UFC's most talented weight classes, Till shrewdly made the most of his mic time post-Velickovic to accelerate his climb up the divisional ladder. But if there's anyone capable of making him rue the day, it's the ever-game "Cowboy."
To put it in the simplest terms, Cerrone is universally adored for a reason. Few embody the archaic - albeit still applauded - "anyone, anytime" attitude better than the 34-year-old, who claimed he had no idea what a Darren Till was until the matchup was posited.
We believe him.
Agreeing to face a comparatively unheralded yet dangerous Till, who's hell-bent on staking his claim - in perhaps another testament to the cloth Cerrone's cut from - only upped the ante for Saturday's headliner, as "Cowboy" heads across the pond on the first two-fight skid of his prolific career. With Father Time slowly and cruelly shutting the window on Cerrone's chances of ever hoisting a UFC title, expect both he and Till to bring the best versions of themselves to Ergo Arena.
Should he get his hand raised, Cerrone would not only remain in the thick of the divisional title picture, but tie reigning middleweight champ Michael Bisping for the most wins in UFC history with 20.
Polish power
As is usually the case when the UFC crosses any ocean, Saturday's trip to Poland will feature no shortage of homegrown talent.
Leading the charge is former strawweight title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz, who'll look to snap a two-fight skid opposite Invicta FC alum Jodie Esquibel in the co-main event.
After failing to dethrone fellow Pole Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 205 last November, Kowalkiewicz suffered her first stoppage loss - a first-round tapout courtesy of Claudia Gadelha - at UFC 212. Esquibel, on the other hand, is coming off a March split decision victory over DeAnna Bennett at Invicta FC 22 and makes her UFC debut with a 6-2 pro record.
Native sons Jan Blachowicz and Oskar Piechota join Kowalkiewicz on the main card in light heavyweight and middleweight bouts opposite Devin Clark and Jonathan Wilson, respectively. Like Kowalkiewicz, Blachowicz aims to right a two-fight skid against the streaking Clark, while Piechota brings a 9-0-1 record to his UFC debut, with all of his wins coming inside the distance.
On the afternoon's prelims, Bellator import Marcin Held seeks his first UFC victory in four tries opposite short-notice debutant Nasrat Haqparast in a lightweight bout, heavyweight newcomer Adam Wieczorek faces slumping veteran Anthony Hamilton on a seven-fight stoppage streak, and bantamweight Damian Stasiak meets Brian Kelleher in his first fight since dropping a unanimous decision to Pedro Munhoz at UFC Fight Night 109 in May.
Related: UFC Gdansk predictions: Cerrone looks to snap first career skid
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)