[sigallery id=”UZsamSNiLxzY8ii5puwMNW” title=”Till def. Cerrone” type=”sigallery”]

Confident up-and-comer Darren Till promised to take his respect from veteran Donald Cerrone. He did not disappoint.

Till (16-0-1 MMA, 4-0-1 UFC) battered Cerrone (32-10 MMA, 19-7 UFC) with his left hand before a finish at the 4:20 mark of the opening frame. Then, he set the stage for a fight with another surging welterweight, Mike Perry.

The welterweight bout headlined today’s UFC Fight Night 118 event at Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

Till wasted little time reveling in his win and immediately called out Perry, who sat cageside and quickly jumped onto the octagon apron to confront the headliner.

“Me and you were meant to fight,” Till said. “I asked for the fight.”

The two then exchanged a few more expletives and a few affirmative screams agreeing to meet. To realize the fight, however, Perry needs to get past his next opponent, Santiago Ponzinibbio, at UFC on FOX 26.

“I’m (ranked) No. 15 (in the official UFC rankings),” Perry told UFC commentators Dan Hardy and John Gooden afterward. “I don’t know where that puts him on the rankings, but rankings don’t matter. They’ve never mattered since I got here. It’s about how hard I hit you with my left and right hand.

“He wants to box. I look forward to any MMA fighter who wants to box with me. Santiago Ponzinibbio’s going to be the first example of that. Then I’m going to show you Darren Till in England. I’m going to KO this man in his home town.”

Prior to the fight, Till frequently proclaimed himself the best fighter walking the earth, and his performance left little to contradict that claim. Cerrone, who claimed not to known Till before their booking, was immediately on the defensive as Till closed and planted a straight left on his chin.

Cerrone, one of the sport’s most talented kickboxers, was never able to get in rhythm as Till backed him against the fence. Over and over, the British upstart landed his left hand, varying the angle of attack before resetting to fire it off again.

Midway through the frame, Cerrone looked completely lost as Till closed in for the finish.

“I’m a light heavyweight fighting in the welterweight division,” Till said afterward. “First round was a feeling-out process, and I caught him, and I knew I would catch him.”

As the frame drew to a close, Till landed a one-two that sent Cerrone staggering back to the cage, where he dropped for cover as Till flurried with more punches. Referee Marc Goddard quickly intervened, certifying the biggest win of Till’s career.

“I was an unknown,” he said. “Everyone’s got to start somewhere, and (Cerrone) gave that opportunity to me.”

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 118 results include:

• Darren Till def. Donald Cerrone via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:20
• Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Jodie Esquibel via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Jan Blachowicz def. Devin Clark via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:02
• Oskar Piechota def. Jonathan Wilson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Marcin Held def. Nasrat Haqparast via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Brian Kelleher def. Damian Stasiak via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 3:39
• Ramazan Emeev def. Sam Alvey via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Andre Fili def. Artem Lobov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Warlley Alves def. Salim Touahri via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Aspen Ladd def. Lina Lansberg via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:33
• Josh Emmett def. Felipe Arantes via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-25)

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 118, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Abbey Subhan contributed to this report on site in Poland.)