Darren Till won his hotly anticipated hometown UFC fight on a unanimous points decision after lasting the full five rounds with Stephen Thompson.

The 25-year-old Merseysider edged an evenly matched and technical welterweight encounter at Liverpool’s Echo Arena, knocking his American opponent down with a big left hand in the final round.

Judges scored the bout 48-47 49-46 49-46 in Till’s favour to the delight of a crowd of more than 9,000, leaving him unbeaten in 18 MMA contests, including six in the UFC.

“I usually like to be more aggressive with my fighting style but I wasn’t able to do that,” said Till following his victory.

“Stephen Thompson is an incredible fighter and I couldn’t quite figure him out the way I wanted to but here I am, the winner.

“I don’t care who is next. I want anybody. I want everybody. I don’t care if I get a title shot next. I want to fight all of these guys.

“Everyone will get it from me. Now I’m going to celebrate with my city. Liverpool, we did it.”

UFC Fight Night – Liverpool Echo Arena
Darren Till was a unanimous victor on points (Martin Rickett/PA)

Thompson, the number one-ranked welterweight contender, retained his record of never suffering a stoppage defeat as he instead endured the third points loss of his career.

The 35-year-old, nicknamed ‘Wonderboy’, was on the backfoot for much of a cautious affair, with aggressor Till launching numerous low leg attacks.

Underdog Till had never previously fought beyond four rounds and he finally got the better of Thompson in the final round with a powerful punch which left his opponent on the canvas.

He celebrated euphorically with his fans at the end of the contest, before the judges ruled in his favour.

Victory for Till came after the high-profile contest was thrown in to doubt when he was 3.5lbs overweight at Saturday’s weigh-in.

He was given an additional hour to make the weight after citing a family emergency as a reason, but still came in too heavy, resulting in him giving 30 per cent of his fee to his opponent by way of a fine.

Thompson refused to blame the weight issue for his loss.

“I thought I edged it out but it is what it is. He’s a big boy,” Thompson told BT Sport 2.

UFC Fight Night – Liverpool Echo Arena
Darren Till celebrates after victory against Stephen Thompson (Martin Rickett/PA)

“Every time I would come in, he was right there in front of him. But no excuses, back to the drawing board and be better next time.

“I’m going to go back and definitely learn from this but hats off to Darren.”

Earlier on Sunday evening, Liverpool’s Molly McCann suffered disappointment on her UFC debut after she was defeated by Gillian Robertson.