UFC-Rotterdam results: Darren Till strikes, showboats his way past Bojan Velickovic in crowd pleaser

English welterweight Darren Till remained unbeaten as a professional, flashing his confidence and creativity in an exciting decision win over Bojan Velickovic.

The welterweight bout closed out the prelims of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 115 event, which streamed live on UFC Fight Pass from Ahoy Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

The two strikers met in the center at the start, each looking to strike from the southpaw stance. Low kicks were the best shots for both men to start, and Till was immediately showboating with his dropped hands and disapproving head nods. A devastating step-in elbow came next, sending Velickovic to the floor, and Till jumped on top to finish. Somehow, Velickovic cleared his head, taking advantage of Till’s pause to complain of an illegally held glove to recover and eventually crawl to his feet.

With blood streaming down the right side of his face, Velickovic tried to find a few strikes of his own, but Till confidently waded forward, looking to score another thunderous blow. Both men played to the crowd at the close of the first, but it was clear who was in control.

Till came out with a snapping jab to start the second, and Velickovic answered with a few strong kicks to the leg before shooting from range for takedowns. Till easily pushed the efforts aside, shoving Velickovic to the floor and taking top position. Velickovic tried to hammerfist from the bottom, and Till simply smiled as he absorbed the blows, much to the crowd’s delight.

The two eventually scrambled to the feet, where Till continued to look incredibly relaxed while looking to attack. Velickovic’s best responses remained to Till’s lead leg, which was purple and swollen at the bell.

Velickovic continued to look for a takedown as third began but never really came close to success. Meanwhile, Till’s pace never seemed one of true urgency, but his measured attacks remained on point. Velickovic’s work started to mark up his opponent before a Till left again sent his opponent wobbling to the floor. Till jumped on top but backed away as soon as Velickovic tried to slow things down, again thrilling the crowd. Velickovic never planned to back down, hopping up and trading shots on the feet until the end.

Till (15-0-1 MMA, 3-0-1 UFC) now has two straight wins since his lone professional blemish, a draw with Nicolas Dalby, while Velickovic (15-5-1 MMA, 2-2-1 UFC) falls to 11-2 in his past three appearances.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 115 results include:

• Darren Till def. Bojan Velickovic via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Mairbek Taisumov def. Felipe Silva via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:24
• Michel Prazeres def. Mads Burnell via submission (north-south choke) – Round 3, 1:26
• Rustam Khabilov def. Desmond Green via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Aleksandar Rakic def. Francimar Barroso via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Zabit Magomedsharipov def. Mike Santiago via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:22
• Abdul-Kerim Edilov def. Bojan Mihajlovic via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:32
• Thibault Gouti def. Andrew Holbrook via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:28

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 115, check out the UFC Events section of the site.