UFC London Preview and Predictions
The UFC octagon is on the move this weekend and will touch down in London, England at the O2 Arena. The card is headlined by the return of promising English heavyweight Tom Aspinall. Across the octagon from Aspinall will be Marcin Tybura who will attempt to upset the Englishmen in his home country. The remainder of the card is filled with some of the top names of English MMA.
Join Vendetta Sports Media as we preview and predict the UFC London main card. You can find our prediction records below.
James: 73-48-2
Garrett: 75-46-2
Jerry: 51-46-1
Anthony: 52-38-1
Lerone Murphy vs. Joshua Culibao — Featherweight Bout
James: The UFC London main card will kick off with a featherweight bout between Lerone Muphy and Joshua Culibao. Murphy is one of the top prospects in the UFC featherweight division. At 4-0-1 in the UFC, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about his future. Although, after a close fight against Gabriel Santos in his last bout he will need an impressive performance to retain the hype around his name. On the other hand, Culibao has slowly worked his way up the featherweight division. In the UFC, he is 3-1-1 with his lone promotional loss coming at lightweight.
The UFC London opener previews to be a fan-friendly bout with a lot of striking. Murphy is a dangerous striker that is capable of switching stances and controlling a fight with his boxing. The featherweight prospect does a lot of damage with his power hand straight which he is capable of landing from either stance.
Culibao is a long striker with quick hands that can hurt opponents with his jab and straight. At his peak, he can land hooks on the inside as well.
In this fight, Murphy has more upside because he is slightly more well-rounded between the two. If needed, he is capable of landing takedowns or mixing in clinch striking. That should be the difference in what should be a very close fight. I will take Murphy by decision.
Garrett: Murphy via TKO
Jerry: Murphy via decision
Anthony: Murphy via decision
Jai Herbert vs. Fares Ziam — Lightweight Bout
James: At UFC London, Jai Herbert will fight Fares Ziam. Herbert is looking to find consistent success in the UFC. Thus far into his promotional career, he has gone 2-3-1. At 35, he will need to start stacking wins if he wants to work toward the lightweight rankings. Ziam is in the opposite stage of his career. At 26, he has established himself as a quality prospect after going 3-2 in his five promotional appearances.
Herbert and Ziam are both long strikers that will look to stay on the outside and damage opponents with attacks from range. For both fighters, this is typically done with big kicks and straight punches. While grappling is neither fighter’s strength, they have both found success in the grappling realm recently.
Ziam previews having a slight advantage in this UFC London bout. At 26, he is more likely to make improvements while being more durable. In a fight with a lot of skill similarities, those factors are massively important. I will take Ziam by decision.
Garrett: Ziam via decision
Jerry: Ziam via decision
Anthony: Herbert via decision
No. 9 (LHW) Paul Craig vs. No. 14 Andre Muniz — Middleweight Bout
James: At UFC London, Paul Craig will drop from light heavyweight to welterweight to fight Andre Muniz. Craig established himself as a solid fighter in the light heavyweight division as he complied an 8-6-1 record in the division. At UFC London, he will test how his skills translate to a lower weight class. Muniz is a reasonable test for Craig’s divisional debut. After going 5-1 thus far in the UFC, Muniz has established himself as a respected welterweight. The winner of this bout should be given an opportunity to work toward the top ten while the loser will be at risk of falling out of the rankings.
Craig and Allen are very similar fighters. The pair are each BJJ specialists that lean on their submission grappling to pick up wins in the UFC. For Craig, those submissions usually come in the form of armbars and triangle chokes off his back. On the flip side, Muniz is better at landing takedowns and working to submissions. On the feet, neither fighter is great, but they both carry power. The edge in striking skills narrowly goes to Muniz as he has shown better combinations.
In this fight, I like Muniz. The pair are each submission artists, but Muniz is more well-rounded. Additionally, if Craig looks to pull guard and hunt submissions off his back, Muniz is capable of avoiding attacks and controlling position from the top. I will take Muniz by second-round submission.
Garrett: Muniz via decision
Jerry: Craig via submission
Anthony: Muniz via submission
Nathaniel Wood vs. Andre Fili — Featherweight Bout
James: At UFC London, unranked featherweights Nathaniel Wood and Andre Fili will throw down in what promises to be a fan-friendly bout.
This marks Wood’s third fight at featherweight after moving up from the bantamweight division. Thus far, he has found a home in his new weight class as he has won his first two bouts in the division. Furthermore, one of those wins came against Charles Jourdain, who is one of the best-unranked featherweights in the division. Meanwhile, Fili is a tenured featherweight veteran that has gone 10-8 with one no-contest in the UFC.
One important note in this fight is that there will be a massive size difference between these two fighters. Wood, the former bantamweight, stands at 5-foot-6 while Fili is 5-foot-11.
This previews to be one of the most entertaining bouts at UFC London. The key to winning this striking-filled bout will be to manage range. Wood will look to get into the pocket, throw boxing combinations and dig to the body while mixing in muay thai trips. On the other hand, Fili will need to stay outside and utilize his long jab and powerful kicks.
Wood’s leg kicks should play a significant role in this fight. Wood has decisively powerful leg kicks and is willing to throw them aggressively when in close range. In his fight, if he can use leg kicks to damage Fili’s movement and limit the power of his jab, he will look outstanding. I will take Wood by decision.
Garrett: Wood via decision
Jerry: Wood via decision
Anthony: Fili via decision
Molly McCann vs. Julija Stoliarenko — Women’s Flyweight Bout
James: In the UFC London co-main event, Molly McCann will fight Julija Stoliarenko. McCann is coming into this fight off a loss against Erin Blanchfield; however, it is tough to hold that against McCann as Blanchfield has proven that she is an elite fighter. Before that, she won three consecutive fights and crafted herself as one of the biggest stars of English MMA.
Overall, she has gone 6-4 in the UFC. Stoliarenko will be making her women’s flyweight debut after spending the large majority of her career at women’s bantamweight and even rising higher on occasion. That drop in weight class comes after an underwhelming 1-5 start to her UFC tenure.
McCann will be the much more well-rounded fighter in this bout. She has an aggressive boxing style and is capable of landing big hooks on the inside. On occasion, she will mix in takedowns and attempt to rack up control time.
Stoliarenko essentially has to land an armbar to win a fight. In her career, nine of her ten wins have come by submission. Stoliarenko will hunt armbars at the cost of position and she does not have great wrestling to get the bout to the ground. On the feet, she has some decent skills, but she typically losses striking exchanges.
The weight cut may be an issue for Stoliarenko as well. In the past, she fainted while attempting to make 135 pounds. It will be worth watching how she fairs on the scale at 125 pounds.
In this fight, there are a ton of reasons to doubt Stoliarenko. As long as McCann does not actively engage in grappling, she should be able to land big shots on the feet. Overall, the preview of the UFC London co-main event leans heavily in McCann’s favor unless Stoliarenko manages to land an armbar. I will take McCann by third-round knockout.
Garrett: McCann via TKO
Jerry: McCann via KO/TKO
Anthony: McCann via TKO
No. 5 Tom Aspinall vs. No. 10 Marcin Tybura — Heavyweight Bout
James: In the main event of UFC London, Tom Aspinall is making his UFC return after injuring his knee against Curtis Blaydes. Aspinall is one of the top up-and-coming heavyweights on the UFC roster. After starting his UFC career 5-1, he has quickly worked his way to the upper echelon of the heavyweight division. Marcin Tybura will be the man to welcome Aspinall back to the octagon. Tybura has done a lot of great work in his career. The experienced veteran has gone 11-6 in the UFC. More impressively, he is 6-1 in his last seven fights.
Aspinall has been able to find success in the UFC because of his well-rounded skill set. In the striking, he has solid boxing and good leg kicks. In grappling, he can land takedowns and hunt submissions. Plus, he often finds success in the clinch. Overall, Aspinall has a great combination of technical skill and athleticism which is rare at heavyweight.
Tybura is also well-rounded, but his grappling is his main skill. Tybura can land takedowns and control opponents from top positions. He is also more than willing to hold his opponent up against the cage and rack up control time. In striking exchanges, he looks to use his length to land kicks and jabs.
I think Aspinall will be better in every aspect of this fight. Aspinall should be able to use his boxing to land solid punches on the inside. On top of that, he should defend the takedowns and find success in the clinch. The only concern with Aspinall is that he is returning from a massive injury, but it’s not enough to completely swing this bout in Tybura’s favor, however. I will take Aspinall by second-round knockout.
Garrett: Aspinall via TKO
Jerry: Aspinall via submission
Anthony: Aspinall via submission
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