UFC London brings fans a fun Saturday afternoon event and Cageside Press has their picks set.
| Staff Writers | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Payne (43-10) |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Drake Riggs (43-10) |  | | | | |  |
| Heath Harshman (41-12) | | | | | | |
| Ben Smith (14-5) | | |  |  | | |
| Steve King (39-14) | | | | |  | |
| Josh Evanoff (38-15) | |  | | | | |
| Paarth Pande (37-16) | | | | | | |
| Joe McDonagh (37-16) | | | | | | |
| Tony Fagnano (18-8) | | | | | | |
| Bryson Hester (30-14) | | | | | | |
| Jay Anderson (36-17) | | | | | | |
| Mike Straus (36-17) | | | | | | |
| Gabriel Gonzalez (35-18) | | | | | | |
| Dan Doherty (34-19) | | | | | | |
| Jesse Gillette (34-19) | | | | | | |
| Shawn Bitter (34-19) | | | | | | |
| Mike McClory (20-12) | | | | | | |
| Eddie Law (32-21) | | | | | |
|
| Adam LeBarr (10-7) | | | | | | |
The main event of UFC London pits former title challenger Darren Till against former lightweight Jorge Masvidal. Till was undefeated at 17-0-1 with six fights in the Octagon before taking on Tyron Woodley for the welterweight belt, in which Woodley dominated. Masvidal is a 45-fight veteran who is 4-4 since moving up to welterweight. “Gamebred” was on a three-fight win streak before losing decisions to Demian Maia and Stephen Thompson. 11 writers picked Till while eight picked Masvidal.
The co-main event is a matchup of grapplers in Leon Edwards and Gunnar Nelson. Edwards comes in on a six-fight win streak with an 8-2 record in the promotion, losing to champion Kamaru Usman and Claudio Silva in his debut. Nelson’s last six victories have come by submission, but he is 6-3 in that stretch. He most recently returned from over a year-long layoff to submit Alex Oliveira in December. 15 of 19 writers picked Edwards.
Dominick Reyes battles Volkan Oezdemir for a top spot in the light heavyweight division. Reyes is a talented striker who is 4-0 in the Octagon with three stoppages, most recently defeating Ovince Saint Preux. Oezdemir quickly rose through the UFC with three wins against top-10 opponents in his first three appearances. He came up short in a title shot against Daniel Cormier, and couldn’t bounce back in a bout against Anthony Smith. All but three writers picked Reyes.
Nathaniel Wood, aptly nicknamed “The Prospect,” takes on Jose Quinonez. Wood is on a seven-fight win streak, stopping every one of those opponents, two of which were in the Octagon. Quinonez joined the promotion with just a 3-1 record as a finalist for TUF: Latin America. Since losing to Alejandro Perez in the finals, Quinonez is on a four-fight win streak, most recently defeating Teruto Ishihara. All but one writer sided with Wood.
Claudio Silva continues his return run against Danny Roberts. Silva was 2-0 in the Octagon way back in 2014 before injuries led to a nearly four-year layoff. Silva returned in May with a win over Nordine Taleb. Roberts has a solid 5-2 record in the Octagon and is coming into UFC London on a two-fight win streak. 13 writers picked Silva to Roberts’ six.
Jack Marshman and John Phillips provide an exciting start to the UFC London main card. Marshman, a former Cage Warriors middleweight champion, is 2-3 in the Octagon and is looking to snap a two-fight losing streak. Phillips is also on a two-fight losing streak after injuries kept him from making his promotional debut in 2017. All but three writers picked Marshman.
