UFC 244: Kelvin Gastelum vs. Darren Till play-by-play, results, live blog
Get your live play-by-play updates for Kelvin Gastelum vs. Darren Till here as the action unfolds at Madison Square Garden, New York, for UFC 244.
Gastelum vs. Till is the co-main event of the UFC 244 pay-per-view event that is streamed exclusively on
UFC 244 play-by-play updates
Main Card
- Jorge Masvidal def. Nate Diaz via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – R3, 5:00 (play-by-play & video)
- Darren Till def. Kelvin Gastelum via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 27-30) (play-by-play & video)
- Stephen Thompson def. Vicente Luque via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 29-27) (play-by-play & video)
- Derrick Lewis def. Blagoy Ivanov via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28) (play-by-play & video)
- Kevin Lee def. Gregor Gillespie via KO – R1, 2:47 (play-by-play & video)
Prelims
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Darren Till play-by-play
Read on for our UFC 244 play-by-play updates and results for Kelvin Gastelum vs. Darren Till.
Round one
Gastelum pressures early. Till against the cage and Gastelum comes forward to clinch. Till turns him, and then Gastelum turns him back. Battle of strength early in the first 30 seconds. Till outside low kick to the lead leg of Gastelum. Both fighters fight from the southpaw stance. Clinch again and Till tries to slice Gastelum with an elbow but doesn’t connect. Till pushing Gastelum back to the cage and then Gastelum turns him, a lot of clinch work to start this fight. Gastelum more active from the clinch so far with knees and punches. Punches mostly aimed at the legs of Till. Till breaks free and fires a low kick to the outside again.
Two minutes left in the round. Till’s range seems to be causing problems for Gastelum so far. Till lands some punches down the middle. As Gastelum attempts to close the distance, Till slides out and tries to counter with a left hook but misses. Till doing a lot of work to the lead leg of Gastelum. A relatively quiet first round from both fighters. Till left hand connects in the final moments.
Till seemed to land more strikes in that round as he managed to control the distance with his snappy outside leg kick and hard straight punches.
The Body Lock scores round one for Darren Till (10-9).
Round two
More pressure from Gastelum again. Till looks comfortable in there and lands a 1-2. Gastelum appears dangerous at close range but hasn’t been able to connect cleanly yet. Till moving out of range just as Gastelum steps forward. Gastelum seems behind because he’s unable to land enough punches to make an impact. Till controlling the distance and landing his own punches before quickly retreating. A solid knee lands to the body of Gastelum.
Back to the clinch now. Gastelum lands a good elbow from the clinch. Till moves forward after breaking free and runs into an eye poke. Till takes about 30 seconds before asking for the fight to start again.
Gastelum moves into the clinch and powers Till backward until he’s against the cage. Gastelum ducking down for a takedown attempt but Till remaining strong. A good leg kick by Gastelum and that’s been one of the few strikes that has been working for him throughout this fight. Gastelum’s lead leg is marked up badly now, though, and he seems to be in pain.
Till controlled the flow of the fight during that round but didn’t make a great impact. Gastelum landed more leg kicks in the final minute. A close round, and we’ll give it to Darren Till.
The Body Lock scores round two for Darren Till (10-9).
Round three
Gastelum comes out well to start round three, landing some strikes while backing Till to the cage. Till still able to circle freely around the sides of the cage, whereas Gastelum’s movement is limited by his seemingly injured lead leg. Till attempts a spinning elbow and barely misses. Gastelum comes through with a heavy left hand and that barely misses, too, as Till leaves his chin in the air.
Till catches a Gastelum kick and pushes him to the cage. He stands up and is now advancing toward Till. Till needs more output in order to win these rounds. Gastelum is the one advancing and putting the pressure on. Good body shot by Gastelum at close range and he ducks out before Till’s knee comes through.
Gastelum jabs Till and then level changes for a double-leg takedown. He gets it. Till gets back to his feet almost immediately. Hard outside leg kick from Gastelum. Punches land for him, too. Another takedown for Gastelum but he can’t control Till.
The Body Lock scores round three for Kelvin Gastelum (10-9) and the fight for Darren Till (29-28).
Official Result: Darren Till def. Kelvin Gastelum via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 27-30)