There were some big names from the MMA world competing at the Misfits Boxing 22 event last night in Manchester, England, headlined by Darren Till vs. Luke Rockhold.
Given that former UFC middleweight champion Rockhold was KO’d twice in his last three fights in the Octagon, and went on to be TKO’d by Mike Perry in his one and only bareknuckle boxing bout in 2023, it was a surprise to see the 40-year-old agree to make his pro-boxing debut against another former UFC fighter Darren Till last night.
It quickly became apparent that it was indeed a bad idea for him as the 32-year-old Till dropped Rockhold for the first time late in the opening round of the bout as he doubled up on his powerful left hand down the pipe.
Rockhold was able to fight on despite still being dazed, but in the third round Till turned up the heat, unleashing a blistering combination of left and rights, with a final thunderous left hand folding him up in a heap on the canvas for a brutal knockout finish 1.06mins into Rd3.
Earlier, the 41-year-old Tony Ferguson had undertaken his first fight since parting ways with the UFC after a record eight-fight losing streak
Ferguson was going up against influencer and occasional boxer Salti Papi, who held a 3-2 record heading into the co-main event bout.
The fight didn’t go all Ferguson’s own way as Papi got the better of the opening couple of rounds against the veteran, but in the third round Ferguson was able to apply pressure against his tiring opponent and unleash a sustained barrage of unanswered blows against the ropes that led to the fight being controversially waved off by the ref, handing ‘El Cucuy’ a much-needed win in his boxing debut.
However, there were complaints afterwards that it was a premature stoppage given that Papi had still been on his feet and covering up at the time.
Misfits Boxing 22 results:
Darren Till def. Luke Rockhold via knockout (punches) – Round 3, 1:08 [Misfits bridgerweight title fight]
Tony Ferguson def. Salt Papi via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:43 [interim Misfits middleweight title fight]
Dillon Danis def. Warren Spencer via submission (mounted guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:15 [Misfits MMA title fight]
Joey Essex def. João Barbosa via majority decision
Ty Mitchell def. Sean Hemphill via unanimous decision [Misfits super middleweight title fight]
Chase DeMoor def. Natan Marcon via TKO (doctor stoppage) – [Misfits heavyweight title fight]
Rahim Pardesi def. Amadeusz Ferrari via TKO (body shot) – Round 4, 1:05
Amir Anderson def. Vitor Siqueira via TKO (punches) – Round 5, 0:55
Carla Jade def. Daryn Harris via unanimous decision – [Misfits lightweight title fight]
Demi Sims def. Nadeshi Hopkin via unanimous decision
Jahad Ingram def. Banty Singh via TKO (body shot) – Round 2, 1:19
