Sunday afternoon fights hit your screen this Memorial Day Weekend with UFC Liverpool on FOX Sports 1. Here are Cageside Press’ picks for the event.
| Staff Writers | Spicely vs. Stewart | Knight vs. Amirkhani | Allen vs. Burnell | Magny vs. White | Thompson vs. Till |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heath Harshman (56-25) |  |  |  |  |  |
| Paarth Pande (54-27) |  | | | |  |
| Dan Doherty (51-30) | |  | | | |
| Eddie Law (51-30) | | | | | |
| Mike Straus (50-31) | | | | | |
| Jesse Gillette (46-30) | | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (48-33) | | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (44-37) | | | | | |
| Mike McClory (42-39) | | | | | |
| Josh Evanoff (12-3) | | | | | |
Unfortunately marred by Darren Till missing weight, the main event of UFC Liverpool is a wonderful matchup between undefeated top prospect Darren Till and top welterweight contender Stephen Thompson. Thompson hopes to re-enter the title discussion sooner rather than later, and Till is looking to prove he is one of the best in the world. Cageside Press gave a slight edge to Stephen Thompson by a 6-4 margin.
The co-main event was originally set to be between Neil Magny and Gunnar Nelson, but Nelson had to pull out. Englishman Craig White steps in to make his UFC debut with a 14-7 career record. Cageside Press unanimously chose the ninth-ranked welterweight contender.
Arnold Allen is undefeated at 3-0 in the UFC and is coming off a tough win over Makwan Amirkhani. The top British prospect will be taking on Mads Burnell at UFC Liverpool, who is 1-1 in the Octagon and 9-2 overall. Like the co-main event, Cageside Press unanimously sided with Arnold Allen.
In the most exciting non-main event matchup of the night, Jason Knight battles Makwan Amirkhani. Knight is a fan-favorite for his in-your-face style, but has lost two in a row coming into this one. Makwan Amirkhani, otherwise known as Mr. Finland, has a wrestling base but knocked out his opponent in just eight seconds in his UFC debut. Seven of 10 writers went with Jason Knight, who is affectionately known as Hick Diaz by MMA fans.
Eric Spicely and Darren Stewart open up the main card looking to end their Octagon struggles. Spicely is known for his stunning win over Thiago Santos, but has since gone 1-2, losing in his last two appearances. Stewart has had a miserable career in the UFC after a controversial overturned victory in his promotional debut, losing in his next three fights. Three writers believe Stewart will earn his first Octagon victory in front of his country.
