UFC Fight Night 147: Till vs. Masvidal | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy
- Tito Wordsmith
- May 21
- 7 min read
Table of Contents
Introduction
UFC Fight Night 147: Till vs. Masvidal took place on Saturday, March 16, 2019 at The O2 Arena in London, England — broadcast live on ESPN+ as ESPN+ 5. The card drew 16,602 fans for a gate of $2,400,000. The main event was a welterweight bout between Darren Till and Jorge Masvidal.
Masvidal knocked out Till with a flying knee at 0:04 of round two, earning both Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night — $100,000 in total bonuses. Till was fighting in front of a British crowd; Masvidal’s second-round opening flying knee produced the finish that launched his 2019 ‘BMF’ career phase. Dan Ige earned Performance of the Night. Volkan Oezdemir defeated Dominick Reyes by controversial split decision. Leon Edwards defeated Gunnar Nelson by unanimous decision.
UFC London at O2 — Masvidal vs. Till
The O2 Arena London is one of the world’s highest-capacity indoor arenas. The 16,602 UFC London attendance and $2,400,000 gate were among the year’s strongest Fight Night figures globally. Till’s 2018 campaign had included a controversial Liverpool hometown decision win over Stephen Thompson and a subsequent UFC WW title fight loss to Tyron Woodley at UFC 228, where Woodley submitted him in round four. His London appearance before a home-nation crowd against Masvidal was a title contendership reset attempt.
Masvidal’s 2018 had been his breakout year: a welterweight decision win over Darren Till would have placed him as a top-five WW. But the London result — a second-round flying knee KO of Till in four seconds of the opening of round two — produced something more commercially significant: a viral moment that transformed Masvidal’s career identity from journeyman to ‘Street Jesus’ action fighter, setting up the Ben Askren 5-second KO at UFC 239 in July 2019.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, March 16, 2019 (O2 Arena London; ESPN+ 5)
📍 Venue: The O2 Arena, London, England
👥 Attendance: 16,602
💰 Gate: $2,400,000
📺 Broadcast: ESPN+ 5 (ESPN+ streaming)
🏆 Main Event: Darren Till vs. Jorge Masvidal — WW (5 rounds; Till fighting at home-nation before partisan London crowd; Masvidal on 2-win streak)
✅ Result: Masvidal def. Till via KO (flying knee and punches) — R2, 0:04 (FotN $50k + PoN $50k = $100k total for Masvidal; 4 seconds into round 2; career-launching moment!)
Main Event: Masvidal’s 4-Second Flying Knee KO of Till
Round one was competitive — Till’s size and reach advantage gave him range control, and the London crowd’s energy supported his forward pressure. Masvidal’s movement and counter-striking produced moments without a decisive competitive advantage in round one. Both fighters returned to their corners with the fight balanced.
Round two opened with Masvidal timing Till’s advance and throwing a flying knee that connected at the temple. Till collapsed at 0:04 — four seconds into round two. The follow-up punches on the grounded Till produced the referee’s stoppage. The 16,602 O2 Arena crowd’s collective shock at the speed of the finish — their home-nation fighter KO’d in four seconds in front of them — was one of the year’s most vivid individual crowd-reaction moments. Masvidal earned both Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night, totalling $100,000 in bonus money.
Edwards Builds, Oezdemir-Reyes Controversy, Ige’s PoN & The Card
Leon Edwards’s unanimous decision over Gunnar Nelson in their welterweight co-main bout was the London card’s most significant individual result for the long-term WW contender narrative. Edwards had already beaten Donald Cerrone in Singapore, then Vincente Luque and Peter Sobotta. His London win over Nelson — a Reykjavik, Iceland WW with a BJJ submission game and a reputation as one of the division’s most dangerous technical fighters — was his most credentialled individual WW win to that point.
Volkan Oezdemir’s split decision over Dominick Reyes generated significant media discussion: most observers scored the fight for Reyes, who had not previously lost in the UFC. The 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 split gave Oezdemir the decision despite Reyes’s apparent competitive advantage in volume and technique. The result was one of the year’s most discussed individual judging controversies. Dan Ige’s Performance of the Night win over Julio Arce introduced a Hawaii-born FW with submission and striking finishing quality.
Full Results
Main Card (ESPN+)
Jorge Masvidal def. Darren Till — KO (flying knee and punches) — R2, 0:04 — WW (FotN $50k + PoN $50k = $100k total; 4 SECONDS into R2; career-launching viral moment!)
Volkan Oezdemir def. Dominick Reyes — Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) — LHW (CONTROVERSIAL; most media scored for Reyes; Reyes first UFC loss; Oezdemir rebuilding post-Cormier loss)
Leon Edwards def. Gunnar Nelson — Unanimous Decision — WW (Edwards building WW contender career; Nelson dangerous submission game neutralised)
Dan Ige def. Julio Arce — FW (PoN $50k; Ige showing submission and striking finishing quality)
Nathaniel Wood def. Alan Philpott — FW (Wood building FW career)
Nordine Taleb def. Danny Roberts — WW
Preliminary Card (ESPN+ / ESPN)
Makwan Amirkhani def. Chris Fishgold — FW (Amirkhani UK-based FW)
Marc Diakiese def. Teemu Päkkälä — LW
Molly McCann def. Gillian Robertson — Women’s SBW (McCann Liverpool debut loss was FN130; London bounce-back win!)
Lina Lansberg def. Gina Mazany — Women’s BW
Nad Narimani def. Sedriques Dumas — FW
Tom Breese def. Bradley Scott — MW
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Fight of the Night: Jorge Masvidal + Darren Till — $50,000 each
🥇 Performance of the Night: Jorge Masvidal + Dan Ige — $50,000 each (Masvidal earned $100k total: FotN + PoN)
Records & Milestones
• Masvidal’s $100k bonus total (FotN + PoN) — his most commercially prominent individual bonus result.
• Reyes’s first UFC loss (to controversial split decision for Oezdemir).
• Molly McCann’s London win — bounce-back after her Liverpool debut loss at FN130.
Legacy & Impact
Masvidal’s London flying knee KO of Till was the commercial catalyst of his ‘Street Jesus’ persona and the ‘BMF’ brand that produced the Ben Askren 5-second flying knee KO at UFC 239 in July 2019, the Nate Diaz BMF title fight at UFC 244 in November 2019, and two UFC WW title challenges against Kamaru Usman at UFC 251 (lost by UD) and UFC 261 (lost by KO). Till’s London loss was a major setback; he subsequently moved to middleweight and rebuilt his contender narrative with wins over Kelvin Gastelum and Robert Whittaker.
Edwards’s London win over Nelson was step 7 of the 12-fight UFC unbeaten run that produced the UFC WW Championship at UFC 278 in August 2022. Reyes’s London loss to Oezdemir by controversial split decision was his first career defeat; he subsequently won four consecutive UFC LHW fights before his championship loss to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 253 in September 2020. Dan Ige’s London PoN opened a UFC FW career that produced multiple ranked wins and a top-five FW position. Molly McCann’s London win began the career phase that produced her consecutive spinning elbow KO bonuses at UFC London in 2022.
FAQ
What was the flying knee technique that finished Till?
A flying knee is delivered by jumping off one foot, driving the opposite knee forward into the opponent’s head or body. Masvidal’s London knee connected to Till’s temple as Till was moving forward into the exchange opening round two. The timing — Masvidal reading Till’s forward movement and timing his jump to intersect with it — produced a precise and powerful connection. The 4-second stoppage reflected how quickly Till collapsed from the single knee and how immediate the follow-up punches were.
What was the Oezdemir vs. Reyes controversy?
Reyes had gone 5-0 in the UFC before London, with wins over Joachim Christodoulou, Ovince Saint Preux, Jared Cannonier, and others by stoppage. His London competitive performance against Oezdemir — his volume, movement, and striking output — led most media observers to score the fight 2-1 or 3-0 for Reyes. The 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 split gave Oezdemir the decision. The controversy was significant enough that Reyes’s subsequent UFC LHW career was partially built around his narrative as a fighter who had been denied a deserved London win.
What was Leon Edwards’ London position?
Edwards had gone 7-1 in the UFC before London, with his only loss to Kamaru Usman at UFC Fight Night 129 in Santiago Chile in May 2018. His London win over Nelson — a BJJ specialist who had submitted Ryan LaFlare, Santiago Ponzinibbio, and Zak Cummings in his UFC career — was his most technically complete individual performance to that point. Edwards’ ability to neutralise Nelson’s submission game across five rounds demonstrated the grappling defence that his subsequent WW title campaign built upon.
What was Till’s home-nation context?
Till was a 26-year-old Liverpool, England WW who had fought his most commercially successful fight at Liverpool FN130 in May 2018, beating Stephen Thompson by controversial split decision. His UFC WW title fight loss to Tyron Woodley at UFC 228 in September 2018 had been a competitive setback. His London O2 appearance in front of a British crowd was intended to re-establish his contender credentials. The 4-second flying knee KO by Masvidal — in front of his home-nation crowd — was his most definitively emphatic individual competitive result.
Who was Dan Ige before London?
Ige was a 27-year-old Waipahu, Hawaii featherweight who had gone 12-1 professionally before London. His Hawaiian MMA background produced a striking and submission finishing style. His London Performance of the Night win over Arce — a New York FW with previous UFC finishes — established his individual bonus quality at UFC level. His subsequent UFC FW career produced wins over Edson Barboza, Gavin Tucker, and others before top-ten FW contendership.
What was Molly McCann’s London significance?
McCann had lost her UFC debut at Liverpool FN130 to Gillian Robertson in May 2018. Her London FN147 rematch win over Robertson was a competitive reversal on the same opponent that had beaten her at debut. McCann’s London win was the second fight in a career that eventually produced consecutive spinning elbow KO bonuses at UFC London events in March 2022 and July 2022, making her one of the most crowd-engaged UFC competitors in the event’s history.
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