MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – AUGUST 30: Darren Till punches Luke Rockhold during the Light Heavyweight fight between Darren Till and Luke Rockhold during the Misfits 22 – Ring of Thrones fight night at AO Arena on August 30, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Ben Roberts Photo/Getty Images)
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What happens when a former UFC champion and top contender clash in a boxing match well past both their primes?
We saw firsthand on Saturday in Manchester, England. Darren Till, a mixed martial artist who has found new life as a boxer absolutely destroyed Luke Rockhold with a highlight-reel KO in the third round.
Here is a look at the destructive finish:
The knockout was the second knockdown of the fight. Here’s the first from the opening round.
While Till may not be mistaken for a true pro boxing contender, he has garnered an undeniable audience for his KO ability in the Misfits Boxing ring. After the fight, he called out retired former super middleweight boxing champion Carl Froch, who was in attendance.
While Froch didn’t climb in the ring for a faceoff, it would seem there is a chance the fight could happen considering the money that is being offered to influencers and retired fighters these days.
You have to wonder if it might make more sense for Till to target Jake Paul at some point, but perhaps he still needs to prove he can put a few more butts in seats before he’d be worthy of that sort of a payday.
At any rate, he had much of the combat sports world talking on Saturday.
Here’s a look at all of the results from the event as each fight.
Misfits X Series 22 Results
- Bridgerweight championship: Darren Till def. Luke Rockhold via KO in the third round
- Interim middleweight championship: Tony Ferguson def Nathaniel “Salt Papi” Bustamante via TKO in the third round
Ferguson just did something he hasn’t done since June 2019–he won a televised combat sports fight. Ferguson was taking some shots from Salt Papi, but he ultimately melted Papi with a pace the influencer-turned-boxer was not prepared to handle.
The referee was pretty clueless. He stopped the fight way too soon, but based on what we were seeing and what we know about Ferguson’s gas tank, El Cucuy looked to be headed for a victory.
Here is a look at the finish:
- MMA light heavyweight championship: Dillon Danis def. Warren Spencer via submission
This was a massive waste of time. Danis took Spencer down and recorded the submission in 15 seconds–literally. I couldn’t help but wonder why Spencer would even bother if this was the effort he planned on bringing.
Here’s a look at the finish:
- Joey Essex def. Joao “Numeiro” Barbosa via majority decision (37-37, 38-36, 39-37)
This fight was one of the most action-packed, yet amateurish boxing matches you’ll ever watch. Like many of the influencer fights, you have to squint a bit to ignore the rudimentary skills. Hopefully, you can admire the heart that is shown.
There was plenty of heart on display in this one. Essex outfought Barbosa in a fight that had several exciting moments and a referee who was unmistakably bad at his job.
Nonetheless, the right guy got the decision win in a fun fight that I probably never need to see again.
- Super middleweight championship: Ty Mitchell def. Sean Hemphill via split decision (98-95, 95-96, 96-94)
- Heavyweight championship: (C) Chase DeMoor def. Natan Marcon via doctor’s stoppage (lip laceration) at 0:52 of R2
- Rahim Pardesi def. Amadeusz “Ferrari” Roslik via TKO (body shots) at 1:05 of R4 – Here’s the KO
- Amir Anderson def. Vitor Siqueira via TKO (uppercut) at 0:55 of R5 – Here’s the KO
- Women’s lightweight championship: (C) Carla Jade def. Daryn Harris via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 50-45)
- Demi Sims def. Nadeshi Hopkins via unanimous decision (40-35)