MMA Preview – Donald Cerrone vs Darren Till at UFC Fight Night 118
Date: Saturday 21st October, 8pm (UK)
Location: Gdansk, Poland
Venue: Ergo Arena
A surprise match-up for Donald Cerrone but a dream match-up for Darren Till. In just his last fight, Cerrone narrowly lost a decision to the former welterweight champion, Robbie Lawler, and now travels to Poland to take on the young and unbeaten Liverpudlian.
‘Cowboy’ has seen and done it all in the UFC, fighting the very best lightweights and welterweights in the world with wins over the likes of Matt Brown, Rick Story, Benson Henderson, Eddie Alvarez, Jim Miller and Edson Barboza. Cerrone is one on the most popular fighters in the world with one of the most thrilling and well-rounded skillsets on the roster to compliment his ‘fight anyone, anywhere’ attitude.
However, this attitude has guided him into the path of a very dangerous and hungry fighter for a fight that has more risk than reward. Till is overflowing with confidence and ambition and has stated that he will run through Cerrone with an early knockout. Although the young Brit is unbeaten, he doesn’t boast any names like Cerrone’s record and truly has everything to gain and little to lose against one of the most seasoned and talented fighters in the UFC.
Till is an aggressive and powerful striker evolving from a Muay Thai background. Starting his promising career in Brazil, he now finds himself back on European soil for the biggest fight of his life. He has all the confidence that he will dictate the tempo, going toe-to-toe with Cerrone on the feet; a bold move against a fighter with a track record of dismembering top ranked fighters with elite striking and lethal combinations.
This will be Till’s best option though, as Cerrone has struggled against aggressive and high pressure southpaw’s. His last two losses came against Jorge Masvidal and Robbie Lawler who are notorious in pressing and controlling the stand-up battle. Although Cerrone will be the heavy favourite, the fight will be even in the early stages but as the fight goes on, Cerrone has all the back-up weapons at his disposal with experience and a complete ground game.
See below for a statistical breakdown of the fight. The key stat is their respective fight record and age, highlighting the illustrious experience of Cerrone.
Striking and grappling stats sourced via FightMetric.
