Till vs Rockhold Predictions: See your UFC favourites from yesterday, today!

Darren Till takes on fellow ex-UFC star Luke Rockhold at the AO Arena in Manchester this Saturday, August 30. The fight headlines the latest Misfits Boxing offering, with former UFC interim champion Tony Ferguson, human spray tan Joey Essex and whatever the hell a “Salt Papi” is on the undercard.

Read on for my Till vs Rockhold predictions as these Octagon veterans share a boxing ring.

Till vs Rockhold Odds

Two-fight Misfits veteran Till is 2/9 to triumph, giving him an 81.8% chance of victory. Rockhold is your 7/1 outsider while the draw is priced at 16/1.

Till vs Rockhold Fight Preview

The MFB bridgerweight title is on the line in this one. For those of you that did not just claw your own eyes out to avoid witnessing the rank desecration of the sport of boxing, that “title” has all the value of a coaster and is being competed for in a weight class half the sanctioning bodies and none of the public give a single turd about. Don’t believe me? Google Docs tried to auto-correct it to “bridge weight” while I was typing that. Other word processors are available.

Till was made for Misfits and their distorted, artists’ impression of quasi-professional boxing. A charismatic talker always ready with a buzzword or a well-put threat. The Scouser may not have enough left in the tank for high-level MMA (his last UFC win was in 2019) but ‘The Gorilla’ can handle himself well against this lot.

Arguably, the fact Till is 2-0 in Misfits is a surprise. Initially, he was the sacrificial lamb for the company’s one legitimate boxer; Tommy Fury. The pair were meant to meet in January, which would have marked the Love Island star’s first Misfits outing since his 2023 win over KSI. 

But Till’s mouth ran away with him, with the UFC star joking that he would kick Fury if the fight was not going his way. It seemed par for the course for a Misfits boxer. The company has long traded in WWE-style theatrics. Said Fury vs KSI clash featured a press conference where the men were placed in a cage together separated by perspex, which Tommy’s father John would spend the majority of the face-off headbutting. The sweet science, this is not.

But Fury claimed to see enough credibility in Till’s half-threat that he withdrew from the fight. A low-key pro return in Budapest and a documentary delving into his alcohol addiction followed. The feeling is there was more to Fury’s withdrawal than a stray boot from Till. Betfred Insights extends its best wishes to Tommy on his path back from his issues.

The show must go on and Till went from b-side to superstar overnight. A knockout win in six rounds over influencer boxing favourite Anthony Taylor helped his cause. A points victory over fellow UFC veteran Darren Stewart increased his marketability further. Till was brought in as fodder to feed the influencer machine. Now Misfits see him as a reliable headline attraction in his own right.

Till is the first Misfits talent to reach this level whose fame is as a result of a fighting career. With co-owner KSI going MIA from the ring for two years, Logan Paul loving life in WWE and his brother Jake carving his own path; Misfits needs Till as much as he needs them.

It will be interesting to see where the company goes from here. Originally sold on celebrities and influencers fighting each other, those bouts still prop up the undercards. Joey Essex is fighting Joao Barbosa, a Portuguese content creator who goes by ‘Numeiro’. Fellow TOWIE star Demi Sims is boxing social media star and singer Nadeshi Hopkins. This is the Misfits bread and butter. 

But there is also a pivot towards more genuine fighters taking part. Unfortunately, the number of those who are credible boxers is limited. Sean Hemphill’s presence stands out like a sore thumb. The 19-2 American shocked then-unbeaten Mark Jeffers at Oakwell Stadium in June. The majority decision victory came in an absolute thriller and ‘Silky’ is a big get for the Misfits organisation.

But largely, the professional fighters on the card are from the world of MMA. The main event pits ex-UFC vs ex-UFC. The same company used to pay one half of the co-main event in Ferguson. Dillon Danis is formerly of Bellator MMA, even if his antics outside of the ring would likely get him booked for these events even if he was a YouTuber. 

Misfits are in phase two. The cards are slowly being infiltrated by MMA fighters looking for a pension. The quality of fighting has ostensibly improved. These are not boxers but at least they are professional athletes, rather than transplanted internet quasi-celebrities. The likes of Till and Rockhold know what to do if they get punched in the face.

But will the fans stick with the promotion if the main pull is seeing MMA fighters compete in a sport that is not their own? Misfits was built on the idea of bringing Gen Z viewers who do not watch combat sports into the fold. Till has crossed over, there is not question about that. But do any of these fans care that Ferguson has had four bouts ranked in the UFC Fight of the Year list? That Rockhold knocked out Chris Weidman to become UFC Middleweight Champion?

This is not a broadside fired towards the Misfits fanbase, by the way. More a comment on whether their direction is really catering to their audience. It likely is. Ferguson is a hoot on social media, with his wild training videos escaping the Octagon of UFC super-fandom and landing on mainstream laps. Rockhold has Till to sell the fight for him. Hemphill is here to represent boxing, taking on Ty Mitchell, the 4-2 former Tyson Fury sparring partner. Joey Essex is presumably going to be Joey Essex.

A bold, wrestling-inspired take on boxing? A distorted exercise in pandering to the Tik Tok generation? A retirement home for fighters Dana White has no use for? Misfits Boxing is all these things and more. One thing you have to hand to the organisation, they picked the perfect name for their diverse collection of personalities and skillsets.

Till vs Rockhold Full Card

Darren Till vs Luke Rockhold

Tony Ferguson vs Salt Papi 

Dillon Danis vs Warren Spencer

Joey Essex vs Numeiro 

Ty Mitchell vs Sean Hemphill

Chase DeMoor vs Natan Marcon

Amadeusz Ferrari vs Rahim Pardesi 

Amir Anderson vs Vitor Siqueira 

Carla Jade vs Daryn Harris 

Demi Sims vs Nadeshi Hopkin

Till vs Rockhold Prediction

If you were scouting this out as an MMA fight, it would be an intriguing mesh of styles. Till is a striker par excellence. 10 of his 18 wins in the sport came by knockout and ‘The Gorilla’ is also a decorated former Muay Thai athlete.

Were we assessing the pair meeting in a cage, it would be striker vs submission specialist. Rockhold is a two-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu gold medalist and has scored eight submission wins from his 16 MMA victories. 

But the deciding factor here is experience in this very different arena. BJJ is not a transferable skill with boxing gloves on. While Till is not allowed to use his kicks, no matter what Tommy Fury thinks, the 32-year-old still possesses the fists that put out a number of his MMA foes.

With that in mind, alongside the fact this is Till’s third Misfits match-up (and fourth semi-sanctioned boxing contest, after an exhibition bout last summer), I can’t look past the Brit. I’m picking Till to get the job done and win on points at 13/8.

You can find all our latest boxing betting tips and analysis at our Betfred Insights Boxing page and our latest boxing odds here.