UFC London serves fans a little snack on Fight Pass before the main course of UFC 223 in two weeks. Here are Cageside Press’ picks.
| Staff Writers | Edwards vs. Sobotta | Duquesnoy vs. Ware | Manuwa vs. Blachowicz | Werdum vs. Volkov |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heath Harshman (31-15) |  |  |  |  |
| Paarth Pande (30-16) | | | | |
| Eddie Law (29-17) | | | | |
| Jesse Gillette (27-19) | | | | |
| Mike Straus (26-20) |  | |  | |
| Dan Doherty (25-21) | | | |  |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (23-23) | | | | |
| Jason Payne (22-24) | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (22-24) | | | | |
| Mike McClory (22-24) | |  | | |
Although the UFC could not quite get the UFC London main event they wanted (targeted bouts for both Michael Bisping and Darren Till fell through), matchmakers were able to salvage a fairly solid main card for the English faithful. Alexander Volkov and Fabricio Werdum will vie for a possible shot at the heavyweight title in the main event, preceded by some notable English fighters.
Two of the few heavyweights on a win streak will collide in the headlining bout, as Fabricio Werdum puts his two-fight win streak on the line against Alexander Volkov’s five-fight win streak (three in the UFC). While this is Volkov’s second Fight Pass main event in a row, only one writer of 10 was confident enough to pick the Russian striker.
The co-main event is a rematch between heavy-handed light heavyweights Jan Blachowicz and Jimi Manuwa. With the catchphrase of “one punch,” Jimi Manuwa excels at putting opponents to sleep, with two brilliant KOs in his last three fights, and three additional stoppages in the Octagon. Jan Blachowicz is a bit more reckless in his stylings, but he has won his last two contests, including an impressive decision over the heavy-handed Jared Cannonier. The first time these two met, Manuwa took home a decision, and seven of 10 writers believe he gets his hand raised again at UFC London.
Terrion Ware takes on yet another top prospect in the bantamweight division in this bout. His first two fights in the Octagon were losses to standouts Cody Stamann and Sean O’Malley, and now he gets French dynamo Tom Duquesnoy. Duquesnoy was thwarted by Stamann as well in his last bout, but had a great knockout in his promotional debut. All but one writer believes Duquesnoy gets back on track.
Opening up the main card is lightweight stud Leon Edwards against Peter Sobotta. Edwards is a very impressive 6-2 in the Octagon including wins over Vicente Luque and Albert Tumenov, and will be riding a four-fight win streak into this one. Sobotta is a sneaky 4-1 in the UFC and has rebounded from his lone loss with a pair of solid wins against Nicolas Dalby and Ben Saunders. With the hometown crowd behind him, seven writers believe Edwards will take the main card opener.
