Till edges Thompson in controversial UFC Liverpool main event

Warning: Video contains coarse language

Hometown favorite Darren Till defeated Stephen Thompson by unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46) in a tightly fought main event of UFC Liverpool on Sunday, the promotion's first trip to the English city.

The decision was somewhat controversial as many media members, including the post-event panel on FOX Sports, disagreed with the outcome, though the bout didn't feature many significant strikes or damage by either fighter. Judging by crowd noise, Till (17-0-1) was the victor, but that was to be expected as the event was billed as a showcase for the 25-year-old Scouser, who got a raucous ovation during his entrance and his win announcement.

Much of the fight featured the two world-class strikers feeling each other out with neither landing much damage until the fifth round when Till scored a knockdown and Thompson (14-3-1) got a takedown. According to UFC's unofficial live stats, Till slightly out-struck Thompson, landing 40 of 129 strikes while "Wonderboy" connected on 31 of 127.

As excited as the crowd was to see Till win, the man himself was even more thrilled, delivering a profane post-win speech in which he called out the entire welterweight division.

Till weighed in three-and-a-half pounds over the welterweight limit Saturday and had to give 30 percent of his show purse to Thompson and weigh in again Sunday at under 188 pounds. The win was Till's fourth in a row, and second consecutive over a UFC-ranked welterweight after TKOing Donald Cerrone last October.

Thompson entered the card as the UFC's top-ranked welterweight contender, but now has just one win in his last four fights, going 1-1-1 prior to Sunday.