Yet another UFC card this weekend as UFC Fight Night 147 is headlined by a welterweight bout by former title contender Darren Till and Jorge Masvidal. It’s the 11th time that a UFC event has been held in London. Here’s a look at the card’s main fights and UFC odds.
UFC Fight Night 147 Odds, Preview & Predictions
We’ve got ourselves a fight at #UFCLondon!@GamebredFighter ALWAYS comes to scrap! pic.twitter.com/mFgEOZhVcD
— UFC (@ufc) 13 de marzo de 2019
- When: Saturday, 1 PM ET (prelims)
- Where: O2 Arena, London
- Live Stream: ESPN+
Darren Till (17-1-1) vs. Jorge Masvidal (32-13)
Till is -250 at MyBbookie.ag for this welterweight bout with Masvidal at +200. Till suffered the first loss of his career at UFC 228 in September, when he came up short in a title bid against then-champion Tyron Woodley. Till, 26, was caught by a big shot on the feet and tapped to a Brabo choke in the second round.
It was clear that wrestling would be Woodley’s calling card early in the fight. Woodley started much more aggressively than he had in previous title defenses and looked to clinch Till and take him to the ground. Till’s defense was good in Round 1, but not in the second round. A huge right floored Till early and put the Brit in survival mode while Woodley rained elbows from top position.
Till became the fourth fighter in UFC history to land zero significant strikes in a championship bout when he lost to Woodley. Till defends 86.4 percent of all opponent takedown attempts in UFC welterweight competition, the second-best rate among active fighters in the weight class behind Tyron Woodley (93.7 percent).
Masvidal was briefly linked to a potential fight against Nick Diaz on March 2, but Diaz ultimately declined the fight. In 15 UFC fights, Masvidal holds a record of 9-6, with notable victories over Michael Chiesa, Jake Ellenberger, and Donald Cerrone. His defeats came at the hands of Rustam Khabilov, Al Iaquinta, Benson Henderson, Lorenz Larkin, Demian Maia, and Stephen Thompson. Masvidal has so far won two Performance of the Night honors for his stoppages of Cezar Ferreira and Cerrone. In addition, he has been given a Fight of the Night award with Khabilov, albeit in a losing cause.
Masvidal is one of five fighters in UFC history to finish a bout by submission at the 4:59 mark of Round 2. He accomplished the feat at UFC on FOX 8. Masvidal has suffered 10 of his 13 career losses by decision. That includes all five of his UFC defeats.
Leon Edwards (16-3) vs. Gunnar Nelson (17-3-1)
Another welterweight bout with Edwards at -160 and Nelson +140. With the title change at UFC 235, Edwards is in an unfortunate position; the new champion, Kamaru Usman, had already defeated Edwards earlier in both of their careers, and while Edwards has since burst into contention with a great win over Donald Cerrone, it will take him a great effort to gain another crack at Usman.
Edwards arrived to the UFC with the Bamma belt over his shoulder and besides a close split decision loss to Claudio Silva on his debut he has only lost to Usman. He has racked up eight impressive wins over the likes of Albert Tumenov, Vicente Luque, Bryan Barberena, Peter Sabotta, and Donald Cerrone. Edwards’ eight-second knockout of Seth Baczynski at UFC Fight Night 64 is the second fastest in UFC welterweight history.
Nelson made a triumphant return at UFC 231; after a series of eye pokes and a first-round knockout from Santiago Ponzinibbio, Nelson dominated Alex Oliveira and submitted him in impressive fashion. Nelson is one of the most talented fighters in the UFC. His grappling is so good that he rarely has to call upon his black belt Karate skills.
Edwards is a tremendous grappler but if the fight goes to the floor Nelson will hunt a submission. Nelson has a 57 percent takedown accuracy in UFC competition. Nelson attempted to take his opponents down 21 times and was successful on 10 occasions. Nelson has completed at least one takedown in nine of his 11 UFC appearances.
Given his rich grappling background, submissions are Nelson’s primary mode of offense. His victims by tapout include Driss El Bakara, Nick Tromp (due to punches), Sam Elsdon, Danny Mitchell, Eugene Fadiora, Alexander Butenko, DaMarques Johnson, Omari Akhmedov, Zak Cummings, Brandon Thatch, Albert Tumenov, Alan Jouban, and Alex Oliveira.
Volkan Oezdemir (15-3) vs. Dominick Reyes (10-0)
A light heavyweight bout with Reyes priced at -260 and Oezdemir +210. Reyes debuted with the UFC in June of 2017 and has beaten all four of his opponents inside the Octagon, three by first-round finish. In his most recent outing at UFC 229 in October, he defeated veteran Ovince Saint Preux by unanimous decision.
Reyes has earned eight of his 10 career victories by first-round stoppage. That includes three of his four UFC wins. Reyes’ 29-second knockout of Joachim Christensen is UFC Fight Night 112 marked the second fastest stoppage by any debuting light-heavyweight in UFC history behind Ryan Jimmo’s seven-second win at UFC 149.
Oezdemir is in need of a win after dropping his last two bouts, one a second-round TKO loss to Daniel Cormier in a failed bid to capture the light heavyweight title at UFC 220 in January. He was next in the main event of UFC Moncton, where lost via third-round TKO to Anthony Smith. Prior to that, Oezdemir had won his first three UFC bouts, including a 42-second KO of Jimi Manuwa and a 28-second KO of Misha Cirkunov.
Oezdemir lands 5.69 significant strikes per minute in UFC light heavyweight competition, the second-highest output rate in divisional history behind Nikita Krylov (5.89).
Expert UFC Fight Night 147 Picks
Till by decision, Nelson by submission and Reyes by KO/TKO.
