The AO Arena in Manchester hosts Misfits 22 this Saturday evening, and it’s an all-former UFC fighter affair at the top of the bill, as Darren Till and Luke Rockhold go up against each other for the bridgerweight title.
Till vs Rockhold is live on DAZN pay-per-view.
Till (2-0, 1 KO) challenged for the UFC welterweight title in 2018, but was submitted in the second round against Tyron Woodley in Dallas.
The 32-year-old would lose four of his next five bouts, and made the crossover to Misfits in January, stopping Anthony Taylor in six rounds, after seeing a clash with Tommy Fury fall through.
The Liverpudlian was last out in May, dropping Darren Stewart twice on the way to a points win in Derby.
Rockhold is a former UFC middleweight champion, taking the belt via fourth-round stoppage of Chris Weidman in 2015.
The Californian would drop it in his first defence, knocked out by Michael Bisping, and would also lose four of his five, exiting the sport in 2022. This will be the 40-year-old’s Misfits debut.
Prediction: I imagine that this one will be frantic, and I favour Till to remain on track for his dream match with Fury by taking a stoppage success.
Ferguson faces Papi
The co-main event sees another former UFC star make a debut.
Tony Ferguson is a former interim UFC lightweight champion, but has lost his last eight MMA contests, the last a first-round submission to Michael Chiesa last August.
The 41-year-old Californian takes on Salt Papi, with the interim Misfits middleweight title on the line.
Papi (4-2, 4 KOs) is on a run of two early wins, the last a third-round stoppage of Kenny Ojuederie in November 2024.
Prediction: Ferguson may be in poor form, but he should be smart enough to take an early win in this one.
Mitchell meets Hemphill
Sean Hemphill (19-2, 11 KOs) is coming off an impressive victory over Mark Jeffers, and the American can take the Misfits super middleweight title by halting Ty Mitchell (4-2, 3 KOs) who is coming off a stoppage win against Idris Virgo.
Remaining Undercard
Chase Demoor (3-1, 1 KO) makes the second defence of his Misfits heavyweight title, and after knocking out Tanner Tolman in his last defence, he can do the same against debutant Natan Marcon.
Carla Jade (2-0-1) should defend her Misfits lightweight title against Daryn Harris, who makes her debut.
Amir Anderson (3-0, 3 KOs) can win early in his contest against Brazil’s Vitor Siqueira (8-1, 4 KOs) at middleweight and Rahim Amer can also win via stoppage against Amadeusz Roslik (0-1).
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Reality TV star Joey Essex makes his debut and he can outscore fellow debutant Joao Barbosa in their clash, while Demi Sims can do the same in her first match against fellow first-timer Nadeshi Hopkins.
Dillon Danis (0-1) competes in an MMA match, and he can get the better of Warren Spencer (1-1) via stoppage.
