An Early Look at UFC London

An Early Look at UFC London

By Alex Wigmore 

The UFC returns to London on March 16th for the eleventh time in the UFC’s storied history. The UK has seen a resurgence of life following Michael Bisping’s end of career championship run and Pickett’s retirement with the likes of Darren Till, Leon Edwards and Arnold Allen proving themselves as worthy prospects under the promotion. Two of those will feature at UFC London.

Headlining the card is Darren ‘The Gorilla’ Till (19-1-1) pitting his talents against top welterweight killer, Jorge ‘Gamebred’ Masvidal (32-13-0) who enters wild enemy territory by entering England for the first time in his long career within MMA. Both fighters are coming off losses, however Masvidal hasn’t fought since his unanimous decision loss to Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson all the way back in November of 2017 whereas Till has been the more active fighter, recently falling victim to Tyron ‘The Chosen One’ Woodley’s current obliteration of the welterweight division in September 2018.

Darren Till has his first loss upon his record to which many fans are intrigued to see how he bounces back from his championship loss. Will he be the same? Will he be more cautious? Did The Gorilla just get lucky with his original run? We just don’t know but what we do know is he has a point to prove.

On the other hand, Jorge Masvidal has an incredible amount of experienced compared to his welterweight rival. For many, Masvidal has been dubbed the future of the division but currently sits under the ‘gatekeeper’ status due to many short comings and a current two-fight losing steak.

Gamebred will be looking to finally get back on track to that coveted title shot that has slipped his grasp one too many times.

Prediction: Darren Till takes it via TKO in the 2nd round.

Our Co-Main Event sees Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards test his wits against long-standing UFC Veteran Gunnar ‘Gunni’ Nelson. Both fighters are highly regarded by fans within the UK, with Rocky hailing from Birmingham, England. While Gunni maybe Icelandic, he has spent many years training with Dublin’s Conor McGregor with Coach Kavanagh at SBG Ireland.

Edwards (16-3), a native of Jamaica who grew up in Birmingham, England, is currently on a six-fight win streak having won a unanimous decision against Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in the main event of UFC Singapore last June. Rocky is certainly on his way to a top-contenders spot and a win over Gunni will surely put him in the top of the division. Overall, “Rocky” is 8-2 in the UFC.

Nelson returned following more than a year hiatus at UFC 231, where he submitted Alex Oliveira with a rear-naked choke in the second round. The Iceland native has been victorious in three of his last four Octagon appearances. Gunni possesses an incredible ground game, but is by no means incapable of winning a striking match should it occur.

Prediction: Gunni via submission in the 3rd round. Winner faces Till/Masvidal.

A bout between former light heavyweight challenger Volkan ‘No Time’ Oezdemir and undefeated prospect Dominic ‘The Devastator’ Reyes becomes something of a contender eliminator fight.

Volkan’s last two battles involve losses against current title-challenger Anthony Smith and former champion Daniel Cormier. Whilst on paper the two losses don’t look good for a record, the two losses are nothing to suggest it’ll be an easy fight for the undefeated upcomer in Reyes who has yet to face anyone in the top ten with his previous opponent being Ovince Saint Preux (ranked 11).

Both fighters are looking to solidify their positions in the division and a win may set either fighter up for a championship bout against Jon Jones or Anthony Smith. Volkan would welcome either fighter, but maybe wanting to take revenge against Smith for the loss in October.

Prediction: Dominic Reyes via Submission in the 2nd.

Rest of the card (as of 18/01/2019)

Priscila Cachoeira vs. Molly McCann – Women’s Flyweight

Jack Marshman vs. John Phillips – Middleweight

Cezar Ferreira vs. Tom Breese – Middleweight

Saparbeg Safarov vs Gokhan Saki – Light Heavyweight