Saturday evening will mark the UFC’s second journey to London in simply 4 months, with March’s scintillating version of the occasion forcing blended martial arts’ flagship promotion right into a speedy return.
Tom Aspinall, Paddy Pimblett and a bunch of British fighters secured assertion wins at UFC London in March, sending the O2 Area into raptures on a night that broke Struggle Night time and O2 Area data.
Aspinall’s first-round submission of Alexander Volkov that evening has earned him one other main-event spot this Saturday, with Curtis Blaydes set to face throughout the Octagon from the British heavyweight in what may very well be a conflict to crown a No 1 contender.
Pimblett, in the meantime, was arguably the star on the O2 Area in March, throughout the first version of UFC London since 2019. The Liverpudlian light-weight will tackle Jordan Leavitt right here as he seems to additional construct his profile.
Right here’s all it is advisable to find out about a stacked card.
When is it?
UFC London takes place on Saturday 23 July on the O2 Area.
The prelims will start at 5pm BST, with the primary card following at 8pm. Ring walks for the primary occasion are anticipated to happen at roughly 10pm.
How can I watch it?
Paddy Pimblett despatched the O2 Area into raptures in March
(Getty Photographs)
The cardboard will air stay on BT Sport within the UK, with the broadcaster’s app and web site additionally streaming the fights.
Within the US, ESPN+ will stream the motion stay, as will the UFC’s Struggle Move.
Odds
Aspinall – 4/6; Blaydes – 11/10
Pimblett – 4/11; Leavitt – 15/8
Full odds right here, by way of Betfair.
Predictions
Aspinall is dealing with his hardest check but, however his trajectory and performances to date means that he’ll be capable of utilise his eclectic skillset to discover a well past Blaydes. All three of Blaydes’ skilled losses have come by way of knockout, although all had been towards heavier hitters than Aspinall (Derrick Lewis as soon as and Francis Ngannou twice). The American has a grappling benefit, so anticipate Aspinall to maintain the struggle standing and don’t be stunned if he outpoints Blaydes; if the Briton is to cease the vacationer, it is going to doubtless be by voluminous strikes quite than a one-punch KO.
Pimblett is equally taking up his most harmful opponent to date, and the Liverpudlian has been in worrying positions in each of his UFC outings – notably when he was dropped in his most up-to-date struggle. As such, “Paddy The Baddy”’s declare of “Scousers don’t get knocked out” appears like it could sooner or later come again to hang-out him, however Leavitt has achieved most of his wins by way of submission. Due to this fact, it’s within the grappling exchanges that the American will provide the best risk right here. If Pimblett could make the bout a putting affair, he could nicely file a scrappy knockout as he did in his UFC debut. That stated, he too has a major variety of submission wins, so sticking to putting could be a tactic influenced by his benefit in that realm – not due to any drawback in grappling.
Full card
UFC heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes
(Getty Photographs)
Curtis Blaydes vs Tom Aspinall (heavyweight)
Jack Hermansson vs Chris Curtis (middleweight)
Paddy Pimblett vs Jordan Leavitt (light-weight)
Nikita Krylov vs Alexander Gustafsson (mild heavyweight)
Molly McCann vs Hannah Goldy (ladies’s flyweight)
Paul Craig vs Volkan Oezdemir (mild heavyweight)
Prelims
L’udovit Klein vs Mason Jones (light-weight)
Marc Diakiese vs Damir Hadzovic (light-weight)
Nathaniel Wooden vs Charles Rosa (bantamweight)
Makwan Amirkhani vs Jonathan Pearce (featherweight)
Muhammad Mokaev vs Charles Johnson (flyweight)
Jai Herbert vs Kyle Nelson (light-weight)
Mandy Bohm vs Victoria Leonardo (ladies’s flyweight)
Claudio Silva vs Nicolas Dalby (welterweight)
Kaynak: briturkish.com
