Editorial: Darren Till, ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, and the welterweight turnover

Darren Till’s star-making win over Donald Cerrone represented a changing of the guard.

When Darren Till knocked out Donald Cerrone in Gdansk on Saturday, it felt like a turning point for the welterweight division. As mentioned by Connor Ruebusch and Pat Wyman on Heavy Hands, the top of 170lbs is old. Here’s the top 15, their ages, and when they started fighting:

Champion: Tyron Woodley - 35 years old, pro debut February 2009

1. Robbie Lawler - 35 years old, pro debut April 2001
2. Stephen Thompson - 34 years old, pro debut February 2010
3. Demian Maia - 39 years old, pro debut September 2001
4. Jorge Masvidal - 32 years old, pro debut May 2003
5. Rafael Dos Anjos - 32 years old, pro debut September 2004
6. Carlos Condit - 33 years old, pro debut September 2002
7. Colby Covington - 29 years old, pro debut February 2012
8. Darren Till - 24 years old, pro debut February 2013
9. Donald Cerrone - 34 years old, pro debut February 2006
10. Santiago Ponzinibbio - 31 years old, pro debut July 2008
11. Neil Magny - 30 years old, pro debut August 2008
12. Kamaru Usman - 29 years old, pro debut November 2012
13. Gunnar Nelson - 29 years old, pro debut May 2007
14. Dong Hyun Kim - 35 years old, pro debut April 2004
15. Alex Oliveira - 29 years old, pro debut December 2011

Most are in their 30s, and several have more than ten years of professional wear and tear. It is important to note that this isn't necessarily as damning as it would have been in the past. For whatever reason, sportspeople having success into their 30s seems like it's more common almost everywhere than it used to be (Kobe Bryant, Serena Williams, Roger Federer, etc), and the UFC is no different.

Still, a lot of the fighters are likely approaching the end of their primes. Added to this, welterweight has been snarled up for a while. Rory MacDonald and Lorenz Larkin left for Bellator. Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit took time off. Johny Hendricks and Kelvin Gastelum ate their way out of the division.

Further down, younger fighters struggled to stay in front of one another. Larkin beat Ponzinibbio, but lost to Tumenov, who lost to Nelson, who lost to Ponzinibbio. Warlley Alves beat Covington who beat Barbarena who beat Alves. Older fighters like Dong Hyun Kim kept a hold of weird legacy rankings because no-one could distinguish themselves enough to jump ahead. Moments where there was a chance for a passing of the torch were limited, and when they were (as in Nelson-Maia or Magny-Maia), the gate was firmly kept. Younger fighters on the outside, old guys at the top.

Darren Till opened the gate, though, and this possibility was probably part of why the fight was made in the first place. Till has a tendency to come out blazing hot in the first round, hurting every one of his UFC opponents. Cerrone is a famously slow starter. Add in style-specific elements like Till's ability to feint, his comfort in boxing range, and being a southpaw, and it was likely that he would at least have a big first frame.

So the booking made for a weighted promotional gamble. If Till won, it was almost certainly going to go the way that it did- dominant, early, and memorable, building interest in a new fighter who could potentially challenge for the belt down the line. If he lost, then no harm, no foul. The UFC hadn't invested much in him promotionally, and there are always younger fighters waiting in the wings for their shot at the big time. It was the same calculus behind matching Cerrone against Barboza or Jury back at lightweight.

The difference is that the gamble worked out. With that first crucial round ticking down, Till forced Cerrone back into the fence, and landed a series of hard left hands until Cerrone crumpled into a heap.

Some unexpected extra magic came afterwards, when Till exchanged words with the division's current bête noire / clown prince. Watching Mike Perry and Till go at it through the cage, it finally felt like the young guns weren't just waiting for their shot. It was a glimpse of a world where they didn't need the old guys to bounce off, where they could do it on their own, and it was a small touch of that organic, lightning-in-a-bottle drama which has been missing of late.

Till, Perry and Colby Covington represent the promoted forefront of the next generation. There's is a second tier of (no less accomplished but less actively promoted welterweights), including Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards. Gunnar Nelson is still around, although his development may have stalled. Dark horses like Belal Muhammad, Randy Brown, Emil Weber Meek, Li JingLiang, Niko Price and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos make up the back of the pack. On balance of past trends, some of these fighters will likely fizzle, and some will do much better than expected.

It can seem a little unfair to use Cerrone as a benchmark: a career lightweight and a relatively recent addition to 170, and it’s true that perhaps the symbolic nature of the loss matters more than the reality. Regardless, he's now on the first three-fight losing streak of his career. He's always been vulnerable early, but the way that he's getting hurt is concerning. He used to get hit, rocked, and even knocked down, but it used to take body shots to finish him. Now fighters like Masvidal and Till are knocking him out by punching him in the face. The first time he did that wobbly upright dance with his head pinging back and forth against Nate Diaz it was surprising to see. It's familiar now.

As sad as it might be to watch the heroes of yesterday on the decline, this is probably how it's going to go. When Colby Covington fights Demian Maia, the expectations before the fight will be similar. I think most will expect Maia to win, but no-one will be surprised to see him walk back to his corner looking tired and old after a round of grappling. Maybe he sons Covington like he did Nelson and Magny, shows once more that the younger generation still have a few things to learn from the old hands.

Even if he does, it's only a matter of time. The potential turnover in the welterweight division has been hanging over it for a while. Now, finally, it feels like it's started.