The UFC travels across the pond to the O2 Arena in London, England for UFC Fight Night 147. The main event features England’s own Darren Till taking on longtime UFC veteran Jorge Masvidal. Darren Till was undefeated with seventeen wins and one draw until finally suffering his first career loss at the hands of Tyron Woodley at UFC 228. Till given the opportunity to fight for the welterweight championship after wins against Donald Cerrone and Stephen Thompson. However, Woodley proved to be too much for the twenty-six-year-old when he got subbed in the second round. Till has finished twelve opponents in his career, and will look to get himself back into title contention with a win against Masvidal.
At thirty-four years of age, Jorge Masvidal will make the walk for the forty-sixth time when he steps into the cage opposite Till. Masvidal was on a nice 3-0 win streak but had dropped his last two fights. He dropped a split decision to Demien Maia at UFC 211 and then was beaten by Stephen Thompson by unanimous decision at UFC 217. Seventeen of his thirty-two career wins went the distance. This is an important fight for Masvidal. He can get himself back in the mix with a win; however, a third straight loss would relegate him as nothing more than a gatekeeper. This is a tough fight to predict. Masvidal better hope he can get Till out of there inside the distance because I don’t see a decision going his way
In the co-main Leon Edwards steps into the cage to take on Gunnar Nelson. Edwards enters the fight winning his last six fights in a row and eight of his last ten. His most recent victory came at UFC Fight Night 132 where he defeated Donald Cerrone via unanimous decision. Edwards also holds wins against Peter Sobotta, Bryan Barberena and Vicente Luque. Seven of his sixteen career wins went the distance.
Gunnar Nelson has been up and down lately. He is 4-3 over his last seven. The thirty-year old’s most recent fight was a victory over Alex Oliveira at UFC 231 via submission in the second round. All but one of his seventeen career wins ended inside the distance. Edwards has looked like a world beater, but if Gunnar Nelson is 100% healthy this could be his night
Also on the main card Volkan Oezdemir will try to reverse a two-fight skid when he steps into the cage opposite undefeated Dominick Reyes, Nathaniel Wood takes on Jose Quinonez, Danny Roberts vs. Claudio da Silva and Jack Marshman goes up against John Phillips in what should be an exciting match-up of middleweights.
Note: The predictions in this column do not necessarily mean that I will be betting them. I have changed my mind in the past and gone the other way after conducting more research. For all of my official bets follow me on Twitter @MichaelGrocke.
Main Card
Darren Till (17-1-1) vs. Jorge Masvidal (32-13) – Welterweight 170 lbs.
Current Odds: Till -200; Masvidal +180
Pick: Till by Decision, but this fight is a hard pass for me.
Leon Edwards (16-3) vs. Gunnar Nelson (17-3-1) – Welterweight 170 lbs.
Current Odds: Edwards -130; Nelson +120
Pick: Edwards by (T)KO
Volkan Oezdemir (15-3) vs. Dominick Reyes (10-0) – Light Heavyweight 205 lbs.
Current Odds: Reyes -220; Oezdemir +200
Pick: Reyes by (T)KO
Nathaniel Wood (15-3) vs. Jose Quinonez (7-2) – Bantamweight 135 lbs.
Current Odds: Wood -260; Quinonez +230
Pick: Wood by (T)KO
Danny Roberts (16-3) vs. Claudio da Silva (12-1) – Welterweight 170 lbs.
Current Odds: da Silva -150; Roberts +140
Pick: Roberts by Decision
Jack Marshman (22-6) vs. John Phillips (21-8) – Middleweight 185 lbs.
Current Odds: Marshman -140; Phillips +130
Pick: Marshman by (T)KO
NEXT: HOW MUCH OF A MESS IS CONOR MCGREGOR RIGHT NOW?
Prelims
Arnold Allen (13-1) vs. Jordan Rinaldi (14-6) – Featherweight 145 lbs.
Current Odds: Allen -135; Rinaldi +125
Pick: Allen by Decision, but with little confidence.
Marc Diakiese (12-3) vs. Joe Duffy (16-3) – Middleweight 155 lbs.
Current Odds: Duffy -175; Diakiese +165
Pick: Duffy by Decision
Nicolae Negumereanu (9-0) vs. Saparbek Safarov (8-2) – Light Heavyweight 205 lbs.
Current Odds: Negumereanu -170; Safarov +160
Pick: Safarov by (T)KO
Tom Breese (11-1) vs. Ian Heinisch (12-1) – Middleweight 185 lbs.
Current Odds: Breese -115; Heinisch -105
Pick: Breese by Decision, but this is another hard pass for me.
Danny Henry (12-2) vs. Dan Ige (10-2) – Featherweight 145 lbs.
Current Odds: Ige -140; Henry +130
Pick: Ige by Decision
Molly McCann (7-2) vs. Priscila Cachoeira (6-1) – Flyweight 125 lbs.
Current Odds: McCann -220; Cachoeira +200
Pick: McCann by (T)KO
Mike Grundy (11-1) vs. Nad Narimani (12-2) – Featherweight 145 lbs.
Current Odds: Narimani -135; Grundy +125
Pick: Narimani by (T)KO
Enjoy the fights!
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