MMA
UFC Fight Night preview: The British take over Las Vegas as Till takes on Brunson
Darren Till may not be in front of his home fans, but he’ll get to compete on primetime in the UK and Europe this Saturday night, as eight British fighters fill out a stacked card at the Apex for UFC Fight Night Vegas 36.
It’ll be a must-win fight for the ‘Gorilla’, but before he makes the walk fellow Liverpudlian Paddy Pimblett and teammate Tom Aspinall both feature earlier on.
We preview the key bouts below.
Derek Brunson v Darren Till
Brunson has been rock-solid over the course of his four-fight winning streak, turning back a collection of fighters looking to climb the divisional ladder at his expense.
After dispatching Elias Theodorou and Ian Heinisch in 2019, the Top 15 stalwart handed Edmen Shahbazyan the first loss of his career last summer, and halted Kevin Holland’s rapid ascent in March, pushing his record to 11-4 in his last 15 appearances and 22-7 overall.
The 37-year-old can be found at 11/8 to win, and with it coming by way of KO/TKO enhanced at 4/1.
Till is set to compete for the first time in more than a year, after being forced out of a bout with Jack Hermansson last December and Marvin Vettori earlier this year.
The Liverpudlian is just 1-3 from his last four fights after beginning his career with an 18-fight unbeaten streak but can thrust himself right back into the thick of the title conversation by stopping Brunson’s run of success this weekend.=
“The Gorilla” is a 4/7 favourite to end his slide and defeat Brunson on Saturday night, Till is also 11/4 to win in rounds 1-2.
Tom Aspinall v Sergey Spivak
Talented, young heavyweights occupy the co-main as Tom Aspinall and Sergey Spivak square off in a battle to get closer to the Top 10.
Aspinall is 3-0 since arriving in the UFC, following up first-round technical knockout finishes of Jake Collier and Alan Baudot with a second-round submission win over Andrei Arlovski earlier this year.
A teammate and training partner of Till’s at Team Kaobon, the former professional boxer is also a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and can be found at 2/5 to find his way to victory on Saturday night with it being via a KO/TKO or Submission at 4/6.
After a slow start to his UFC career, Moldova’s Spivak has rattled off three straight victories to climb into the Top 15.
Last time out, “The Polar Bear” picked up a unanimous decision victory over veteran Aleksei Oleinik, and is 19/10 to follow up on that win, 4/1 via decision.
Luigi Vendramini v Paddy Pimblett
Paddy Pimblett makes his highly anticipated UFC debut this weekend, making the walk to face Brazilian Luigi Vendramini in the main card opener.
The 26-year-old “Paddy the Baddy”, has amassed a 16-3 record to this point in his career, arriving in the UFC following consecutive first-round stoppage wins in his final two Cage Warriors appearances.
All eyes will be on Pimblett who has been one of the more charismatic talents on the British regional scene for the last several years and he is 4/6 to win, 13/8 to win via TKO/KO or Submission.
The 25-year-old Vendramini returned to action following more than two years on the sidelines but dropped a majority decision to France’s Fares Ziam last time out, getting started too late to swing the result in his favour.
Vendramini is 6/5 to land a statement win, with it coming via the Judges Scorecard at 3/1.
If you fancy, you can find Enhanced Odds for Darren Till, Tom Aspinall and Paddy Pimblett all to win by KO/TKO/DQ or Submission – was 8/1, now 10/1.
