Luke Rockhold took part in his first boxing bout this past Saturday against Darren Till, and it could well be his last.
On Saturday, Misfits Series 22: Ring of Thrones took place from the AO Arena in Manchester with several familiar faces on the card.
Former UFC stars Darren Till, Luke Rockhold and Tony Ferguson competed on the event, continuing the trend of UFC fighters transitioning to influencer boxing.
In the co-main event, ‘El Cucuy’ Ferguson finally snapped his eight fight losing streak when he scored the finish over ‘Salt Papi’.
Rockhold urged to retire following scary KO loss
After Ferguson’s win, which the majority of the fanbase was relieved to see, it set up for an anticipated main event between the two former UFC middleweights.
In the build up to their fight, ‘The Gorilla’ Till was seemingly annoyed at Rockhold and during the official weigh-ins, he had to be held back by several security guards as he attempted to attack Rockhold.
And the former UFC middleweight title challenger brought that energy into the fight as he immediately pressured Rockhold from the opening bell.
At the end of round one, Till dropped Rockhold with a huge left hand and the former UFC middleweight champion was saved by the bell as he narrowly made it back to his feet.
Despite making it through round two, Rockhold didn’t last much longer as he was utterly folded after Till landed a hellacious combination, knocking the American out cold.
Reacting to the fight was legendary UFC referee Marc Goddard, who congratulated Till on his win but also urged Rockhold to retire after such a devastating loss.
“Great win for Darren! Happy for him. With the greatest of respect Luke shouldn’t be doing this anymore. A genuine MMA middleweight great. He doesn’t need to sustain this kind of damage at this stage.”
Who will Darren Till fight next?
After such an impressive KO win, it is likely that Till will remain with Misfits for the time being, and during his in ring interview, he called out several influencers.
However, he then turned his attention to former boxing world champion Carl Froch, who was sat on the front row taking in the action.
As Till stormed out of the ring to try and get a reaction from Froch, the retired boxer didn’t react which only angered Till further.
At this point, it would be no surprise to see Froch come out of retirement for one last payday, despite his ongoing criticism of the influencer boxing scene.