#Oliver Enkamp | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thesportssoundoff · 7 years ago

Text

“A great HW fight, a few great prospects, Jimi Manuwa and .500″ The UFC returns to the UK Preview

Joey

March 11th, 2018

Fights: 12 (11?)

Debuts: 5 (John Phillips, Charles Byrd, Magomed Ankalaev, Hakeem Dawodu, Dimitry Sosnovski)

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 4 (Rustam Khabilov OUT, Stevie Ray IN vs Kajan Johnson/Dmitry Prohebetz OUT, Dmitry Sosnovskiy IN vs Mark Godbeer/Alex Reyes OUT, TBD IN vs Nasrat Haqparast/Elizeu Zaleski OUT, Brad Scott IN vs Jack Marshmann)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 5 (Fabricio Werdum, Alexander Volkov, Jimi Manuwa, Jan Blachowicz, Stevie Ray)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 2 (Terrion Ware, Paul Craig)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 7 (Fabricio Werdum, Alexander Volkov, Jan Blachowicz, Leon Edwards, Peter Sobotta, Mark Godbeer, Kajan Johnson)

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2016 (in the UFC): 18-8

Alexander Volkov- 3-0 Fabricio Werdum- 3-2 Jan Blachowicz- 3-2 Jimi Manuwa- 2-1 Tom Duquesnoy- 1-1 Terrion Ware- 0-2 Leon Edwards- 4-0 Peter Sobotta- 2-0

Too High Up- Terrion Ware vs Tom Duquesnoy

Terrion Ware is the sort of fighter every MMA organization loves to have. He's a guy who can test your prospects, give them a few unique looks and test what guys can and can't do. Thus far, Ware has given some dicey moments to Cody Stamman and Sean O'Malley so you know he can be your prospect tester dijour. The problem is Ware is fighting third up on the card vs Tom Duquesnoy in a fight entirely designed to get Duquesnoy back on the right track. I'm not opposed to young fighters getting opportunities to rebuild their stock because it's just smart business but Duquesnoy-Ware should not be third fight on the card. Thus far Ware's agent has got him on International Fight Week, the co-main event of an FS1 card and now this premier slot on Fight Pass. Dude's out here putting in work.

Too Low- Danny Henry vs Hakeem Dawodu

In his UFC debut, Canada's top prospect gets what is the usual "hyped guy debut" fight---a really fucking tough matchup where nobody respects his opponent. Henry is a former AFC champ who debuted vs Daniel Teymur and had a hellacious war with him in a FOTN bonus earning win. Henry looked huge for 155 lbs so lord knows what he'll look like at 145. Henry is a flawed fighter who Dawodu should be able to style on BUT there are no guarantees under 155 lbs and Henry has a lot of tools (power, size and cardio) which should give Hakeem some issues. This fight should be on the main card.

Stat Monitor for 2018: Debuting Fighters (Current number: 6-9): John Phillips, Charles Byrd, Magomed Ankalaev, Hakeem Dawodu, Dimitry Sosnovski

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 6-2): Stevie Ray, Dmitry Sosnovski, Brad Scott

Second Fight (Current number: 8-9): Oliver Enkamp, Danny Henry, Nasrat Haqparast

Cage Corrosion (Current number: 5-9):

Undefeated Fighters (Current number: 11-8): Hakeem Dawodu, Dmitry Sosnovski

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- I'd actually like to begin by doing a bit of an exercise if you'll so indulge me. There are 17 European fighters on this card from top to bottom if you remove the in limbo fight for one Nasrat Haqparast. Removing the debuting fighters, that number drops to 15. Of those fifteen fighters, how many of them are some combination resulting in 2-2 in their last 4 fights?

Jimi Manuwa Jan Blachowicz Danny Roberts Jack Marshmann Brad Scott Paul Craig Stevie Ray

So of the fifteen fighters on this card from Europe who have set foot in the UFC octagon, seven of them are 2-2 in their last 4 fights. That fifteen also includes guys like Tom Duquesnoy, Alexander Volkov and others who don't even have a four fight minimum in the org.

The point was to illustrate the challenges of the European fight scene. MOST of these guys fight in Europe and the UFC goes to Europe, what, six times a year? That leaves these guys taking fights outside of Europe but never in America; like Mexico, Canada or Brazil primarily. That creates a pretty weird dynamic where most of these fights are outside of their comfort zones and on the road in enemy territory where they're really just there to be "an opponent." All of this leads to an erosion of fan support as more and more European fighters get smelted out of their home markets, creating the illusion that they're just not good enough. It all leads to a challenge of balancing the desire to showcase international fighters in front of their fans with the fact that there are X amount of cards to fill up with guys who have to fight X amount of times across X amount of dates. When SO many local fighters are in a state of "win one, lose one, win one, lose one" there's no semblance of momentum.

2- What fighter in Fabricio Werdum's past does Alexander Volkov best represent? I can't think of somebody who he's faced who provides the combination of workrate, size and striking depth that Volkov has. That's not to say Werdum can't win (or won't win) but I'm at a loss for a real good comp for Volkov.

3- It's amazing the level of durability Fabricio Werdum has displayed throughout his career. Not even looking at the level of growth he's displayed as a fighter, we're talking about a guy who has fought at a high level since at least 2007 when I first got reintroduced to MMA. He's fought everybody under the sun and only two guys have managed to put him down and out; Stipe Miocic and JDS. That includes fights with Overeem (three times), Cain Velasquez, Mark Hunt, Fedor, Big Foot, Andrei Arlovski, Big Nog (twice), Travis Browne (twice) and Gabriel Gonzaga. All of that is to lead into the obvious; at SOME point this dude is going to crack. He's over 40, fought three times last year and might fight three more times this year given how often the UFC calls upon him. It's just the nature of the human body to EVENTUALLY erode from prolonged damage. Volkov isn't blessed with the one hitter quitter that can put a dude out on impact but he is very active and aggressive. It probably wouldn't happen early but if this fight drags, accumulation of damage could be a serious problem.

4- So this main card is actually not bad considering it's a European Fight Pass card. Werdum/Volkov is a really good HW fight (and the winner probably is facing the winner of Lewis/Ngannou for a #1 contender spot), Blachowicz/Manuwa I was an awful fight but this is a relevant fight between big dudes at 205 lbs including one dude who will always be a "maybe sorta" #1 contender type because he creates highlight reels. Peter Sobotta vs Leon Edwards isn't the world's sexiest fight on paper but Sobotta has really turned his career around since coming back to the UFC and he seems really confident in his hands right now. On the other hand, Leon Edwards has lost his fight finishing spark but still has fights which suggest he's growing somewhat as a fighter. Even Duquesnoy/Ware should be tons of fun. The prelim slate is just so "UFC Fight Pass in Europe" level that it really dampens the excitement. Brett Johns getting on this card wouldve been huge for him.

5- Jan Blachowicz has sort of had a chance to mentally reset his stock on the lower half of the 205 lb division and gets rocketed RIGHT back up the top of the division. Blachowicz has really struggled around this level with losses to Pat Cummins (in a fight he could've won), Jimi Manuwa (fight he should've won), Alexander Gustafsson (in a fight he probably shouldn't of taken) and Corey Anderson. The level of competition there is pretty intense and it's not like Jan has been completely outstyled in those fights. He's just NOT on that level (or wasn't enough to win those fights). He gets a second crack at Manuwa now.

6- I'm really beginning to lose faith in Danny Roberts as a prospect. On the regional circuit, he always seemed to put himself in various states of peril but it seemed to be more out of inexperience. In the UFC, he's continued to put himself in bad spots defensively and his chin has been cracked on a number of opportunities. Dominique Steele had him hurting in a bad way, Mike Perry finished him in a fight where Roberts just couldn't get out of the way for a fifteen minute period, Bobby Nash had Roberts all sorts of thrown off before Danny Roberts finished him off and Nordine Taleb finished Roberts in violent fashion in December. Roberts draws Swedish karate ace Oliver Enkamp in a pivotal fight for both guys.

7- Can Leon Edwards somehow finish Peter Sobotta and keep pace with the other 170 lbers who seem to all be getting their careers on the right track?

8- If Leon Edwards wins, do they try to put him vs Ponz in Chile? I really like Edwards but since nearly finishing Claudio Silva and smelting Seth Baczynski, he's had 6 fights and gone to a decision in all but one of them. There's really no reason somebody with his tools should be so....not fun. His fights are heading in the opposite direction at a time where Kamaru Usman, Darren Till, Ponz, Max Griffin, Elizeu Zaleski, Jake Matthews, Mike Perry and others in that "fun new WW to care about" are all having damn fun fights.

9- All Magomed Ankalaev has to do is finish his fight and be the savior of 205 lbs. It's not asking too much.

10- Alright Mark Godbeer, what stupid shit you gonna get yourself into this time?

11- So about the Godbeer fight, maybe this exposes my lack of knowledge but I could not tell you the differences between Dmitry Sosnovskiy and Dmitry Poberezhets, the guy who was originally scheduled to fight Godbeer. The UFC seems to have like a bevy of heavyweights who they signed but can't seem to actually get to get into the cage, it's almost infuriating if you're one of those OCD guys who wants to keep up with everything going on.

12- Stevie Ray getting a new contract to try and smelt Kajan Johnson is very UFC of the UFC. It's almost like a Batman TAS plot from the Joker.

Must Wins

1- Fabricio Werdum

I feel like all of Werdum fights are must win given how much trouble he seems to bring with him. The last time we saw Werdum, he was throwing boomerangs at folks and shouting out Chechen warlords while also decisioning a very good HW in Marcin Tybura. The time before that he took a fight on thirty minutes notice vs Walt Harris and was caught on camera using the unacceptable f word in Spanish like six times. Werdum vs Volkov is a great HW fight that pits the old dog in the race vs the seasoned in his prime pro who is peaking. Good fight but a must win for the always controversial Werdum.

2- Tom Duquesnoy

This entire thing is tailor made for Duquesnoy. He's getting a guy coming off two losses who is a glorified opponent. He's in Europe, he's on the main card and this entire showcase is built to make him look good and like the star. He truly cannot fuck this up.

3- Magomed Ankalaev

Mr. Ankalaev, I do not know you. I do not necessarily believe I have to know you at this point. All I know is you're a new light heavyweight. God speed, my dude.

Five Can't Miss Fights

1- Alexander Volkov vs Fabricio Werdum

2- Tom Duquesnoy vs Terrion Ware

3- Hakeem Dawodu vs Danny Henry

4- Jack Marshmann vs Brad Scott

5- John Phillips vs Charles Byrd

#MMA #UFC #Fight Pass #Manuwa #Blachowicz #Werdum #Volkov

6 notes · View notes

raiderpwr · 4 years ago

Photo

Oliver Enkamp

0 notes

pennyjomma · 4 years ago

Video

youtube

(via BELLATOR MMA ADDS COMBAT SPORTS LEGEND MELVIN MANHOEF, OLIVER ENKAMP AND TERRY BRAZIER TO HISTORIC PARIS EVENT ON OCT. 10 – MMA Fight Coverage)

0 notes

theanticool · 3 years ago

Text

Oliver Enkamp hits a buggy choke reverse triangle in the 3rd round on Mark Lemminger - Bellator 281

#Oliver Enkamp #Mark Lemminger #Bellator #bellator281 #Bellator mma #mma #gifs and pics

50 notes · View notes

conanaltatis · 4 years ago

Text

'Bellator 248,' 'Bellator Europe 10' results: Cheick Kongo vs Timothy Johnson in Paris, France

‘Bellator 248,’ ‘Bellator Europe 10’ results: Cheick Kongo vs Timothy Johnson in Paris, France

Promotion: Bellator MMA

Title: “Bellator 248,” “Bellator Europe 10” (Bellator Paris)

Venue: Accor Arena, Paris, France

Date: October 10, 2020

Number of bouts: 11

FIGHT CARD

COUNTRIES REPRESENTED

WEIGH-INS RESULTS

Featherweight: Mads Burnell (145.6) vs. Darko Banovic (145)

Catchweight (160lbs): Ryan Scope (160.8) vs. Alan Omer (159)

Welterweight: Oliver Enkamp (168.4) vs. Emmanuel Dawa (1…

View On WordPress

#Bellator 248 #Bellator Europe 10 #Cheick Kongo #Paris #Timothy Johnson

0 notes

knockoutspage · 7 years ago

Video

A Perfectly Timed One Punch Knockout! 👊💣💥👊💥😵👌 - [Danny Roberts vs Oliver Enkamp] - www.instagram.com/knockouts_page www.facebook.com/knockoutspage www.twitter.com/knockoutspage www.tumblr.com/blog/knockoutspage Footage: UFC Fighter: @danhotchocolate Song: @swissfrankie #knockouts_page #knockdown #ko #knockout #knockouts #fight #fighting #fighter #fighters #mma #mixedmartialart #mixedmartialarts #bodybuilding #martialarts #combatsports #fit #sport #sports #boxing #fitness #punch #ufc #muaythai #kickboxing #workout #bjj #athlete #london #grappling #uk

0 notes

thesportssoundoff · 8 years ago

Text

It’s been a good long while: The UFC’s return to Sweden

Joey

May 26th, 2017

After a successful UFC 211 and some time for us to all ponder its magnanimous impact on the MMA world, the UFC returns with a show live from Stockholm, Sweden on Sunday. With an early start time from Sweden on a Sunday, I'm not expecting a ton of buzz for this show among the hardcores or the casuals (although Gustaffson is one of those guys who tends to generate a healthy amount of fan interest) when he's promoted. In truth, this card is decidedly UFC European with a lot of guys who fight primarily only on their shows in Europe and while they rock mixed win-loss records, they normally put on very good fights and that in and of itself is a draw for fans abroad. There's slim to none in terms of divisional relevance and if you're chasing big names, you're probably going to be disappointed. If we believe the idea that undercards mean less than ever before, this show is just fine as both the main and co-main events are really good fights well worthy of your time.

Fights: 12

Debuts: 1 (Oliver Enkamp)

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 4 (Christian Colombo,Damian Grabowski cancelled/ Mairbek Taisumov out, Reza Madadi in/Emil Meek out, Oliver Enkamp in/Magnus Cedenblad out, Trevor Smith in)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 5 (Alexander Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira, Marcin Held, Nico Musoke, Reza Madadi)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 2 (Marcin Held, Chris Camozzi)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 4 (Misha Cirkunov, Pedro Munhoz, Damian Stasiak, Joaquim Silva)

*So I wanted to do something a little different. There are 24 fighters on this card and if we remove these 6 guys who are trading wins and losses, we're at 18 guys. Remove Oliver Enkamp because he's new and then remove Jessin Ayari and Damir Hadzovic because they've had just one fight. That brings us to 15 guys. Of these 15 guys, how many of them are 2-2 in their last 4 UFC fights?

6 (Gus, Akhmedov, Trevor Smith, Nordine Taleb, Chris Camozzi, Nico Musoke)*

Stat Monitor for 2017:

Debuting Fighters (Current number: 12-11)- Oliver Enkamp

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 6-11)- Oliver Enkamp, Reza Madadi and Trevor Smith

Second Fight (Current number: 12-15)- Damir Hadzovic, Jessin Ayari, Abdul Razal AlHassan and Volkan Oezdemir

Twelve Precarious Ponderings:

1- The main event and co-main event represent the absolute best and worst for the 205 lb division. Divisions with no depth often times mean that every fight in the division has divisional relevance. As such, a fight between a guy with one fight in the company and a guy who has primarily fought on the prelims is now a co-main event with a lot of relevance inside the division. A fight between a dude who got KO'd in under a minute two fights ago is headlining vs a guy who is 2-3 in his last five fights AND the winner could, in theory, skedaddle his way into the title picture. Maybe even into the #1 contender spot. Whenever there's a fight at 205 lbs featuring anybody in the top 10, it opens the door for there to be discussion about whether that fight is or isn't a title fight. Now the worst part of 205 is that in any other division with any sort of depth, Glover vs Gus is not even in the discussion of title contention. In any other division, it's just a fight between two popular guys. Gus and Glover will be fighting for potentially the second in command spot behind Jimi Manuwa which is somewhat sad if you try to think too hard about it. Furthermore in any other division, Misha Cirkunov vs Volkan Oezdemir would be just two talented younger-ish guys in a fight where somebody is going to prove themselves. Instead it's now the ONLY young prospect in the 205 lb division (other than Tyson Pedro who may still drop to 185 lbs) vs arguably the only rising potential star who remains in a wasteland division. Good and bad.

2- In 2014, there were people who thought Gus vs Jones II would do 1 million PPV buys. In 2017, I can't imagine they'd get half of that and it's not all on Jones' foibles either. Gustafsson beat Jimi Manuwa by KO and it looked like we were all set for Jones vs Gus II in September. Gustafsson got hurt, as he tends to do all the time, and Cormier took his spot and his thunder. Once "the guy" in a division that was chasing a Jones replacement from the public's perspective, Gus was stalled up. Gustafsson fought "Rumble" Johnson and came up short, getting finished in Sweden in the UFC's first stadium show. Injuries cut short the first scheduled Gus/Glover match and Gus still got a title shot in October of 2015. He gave Cormier hell and nearly finished him en route to a decision loss. From there, he's been hurt. And hurt some more. And hurt even a bit more. Somewhere between back injuries, Gus beat Jan Blachowicz in a fight where he almost looked timid on his feet. And yet, despite all of the setbacks and losses in clutch situations, Gus is back here knocking on the door of a potential fight fight. The madness of 205 lbs.

3- As much as it's fun to deride Gus, we can look at Glover and have the same questions as well. Since beating Jones, he's gotten outwrestled by Phil Davis (no shame there I suppose), KO'd by Rumble (same) and KO'd a bevy of guys he probably was supposed to KO. Against Ovince St. Preux he looked really shaky at times on the feet before submitting him. Against Jared Cannonier, he looked REALLY off on the feet but his wrestling was more than enough to save the day. Now part of that could simply be due to the fact that Glover was coming off a KO or maybe he underestimated how good Jared Cannonier is on the feet. Whatever the case, there are questions here with Glover as well. When he's on, he has pressure, boxing and the ability to force people to panic wrestling with him which often leads to submissions. When he's off, he's a guy caught between not being a great enough wrestler to wrestle, not having the athletic ability to pull off submissions if he's put on his back and not having the proper range to strike. So in a way, Gus vs Glover is a battle between two guys who are capable despite being a collection of broken p arts.

4- There's no question that Misha Cirkunov is the better talent when compared to Volkan Oezdemir. On the other hand, Oezdemir's win over OSP is better than any win that Cirkunov has on his UFC ledger.

5- So let's chit chat real quick about Volkan Oezdemir. Oezdemir was training for a Titan Fighting HW title clash when the UFC called. He dropped the weight to make 205 (something he was planning on doing anyways after the HW title fight) and wound up beating OSP by split decision. Volkan started off hot and then basically came to a crawl all throughout the third round. Still it was an impressive enough debut and at 27 years old he's one of the few guys alongside the likes of Ion Cutelaba and Tyson Pedro who have some youth at 205 to go along with a bevy of skills to actually make a dent in the division. His hands and his ability to control the range vs OSP were pretty impressive before he completely gassed out.

6- So Cirkunov is in somewhat of a weird spot. If Glover wins or loses, he'll probably have no issue fighting Misha Cirkunov given how Glover rarely turns down a fight. On the other hand, Gus has turned down Misha Cirkunov in the past and could easily decide to do the same going forward if he wins. The winner of Glover vs Gus could fight Jimi Manuwa at UFC 214 for the #1 contender spot but Gus might legit just sit and wait on a title fight with two wins to back him up for it.

7- Gotta admit they may be essentially filler fights but I'll always the jib of these Razak AlHassan/Omari Akhmeov and Oliver Enkamp/Nordine Taleb fights. Big fan of up and comers getting veteran litmus tests at 170 lbs.

8- MAD DOG IS BACK! SHORT NOTICE! AGAINST ONE OF THE BETTER BRAZILIAN UP AND COMING LWS IN THE WORLD! I PRAY! WE SHOULD ALL PRAY!

9- So I'm not exactly buying this Peter Sobotta "he's a good fighter guys for real" comeback but he's winning and he gave all kinds of hell to Nicholas Dalby who at one point was a promising young fighter. Ben Saunders on paper is the sort of fighter that Peter Sobotta should get beat up against BUT Saunders looked really poor against Patrick Cote, Court McGee and Kenny Robertson. Sobotta wins this one and I'll be on board.

10- This will be our first fight from Niko Musoke in quite some time and it's easy to forget that Musoke was kind of becoming a thing in the UFC prior to a loss to Kelvin Gastelum. Even in that fight, Musoke gave Gastelum fits early before Kelvin's body work and his overall better skillset wore Musoke down and beat him up. Against Albert Tumenov, Musoke made an honest day's effort but again came up short. Musoke's been gone for a while so let's see if he's found a way to improve or if he just one of those guys who is who he is.

11- Speaking of guys who have been away a while, Darren Till is back! TIll looked to be on the fast track to superstardom when he was wiping dudes out in Brazil and England. He took on Nicholas Dalby and looked more than capable of finishing him before he hurt his arm and gassed out. Till has all kinds of skill but who knows what he's got in the tank after taking a long time off to deal with a wealth of injuries.

12- It feels almost mean to give Sweden a Trevor Smith vs Chris Camozzi fight. That's not nice at all.

Must Win

Alexander Gustafsson

Something with Gutstafsson is off and I have no idea what it is. The same guy who took Jon Jones to the limit and KO'd Jimi Manuwa is not the same guy who looked petrified of Jan Blachowicz or who seemed shell shocked at times vs Daniel Cormier. Gustafsson was one of the UFC's upcoming stars in 2013-2015 but something is wrong. Figuring out what that something is seems as important as the result of this fight. If he wins, Gustafsson will be in the driver seat as a potential #1 contender option. I know the focus has gone to Jimi Manuwa as "the back up" but Gus beat Manuwa, has issues with both Jones and DC and I swear he's more popular than Manuwa is. Gustafsson is not going to get a lot of variety from Glover Teix, he's going to get a good boxer with the ability to sporadically wrestle.

Pedro Munhoz

Pedro Munhoz is main card worthy but it's all on the same show and same channel but whatever. He's facing Damian Stasiak who is a complicated guy to figure out. He's a solid fighter who moves in slow motion but still seems to figure out how to win fights. At 135 in the UFC he's undefeated with two submission finishes in enemy territory. If Pedro Munhoz is going to ever take the jump from fun action fighter to potential top 10 bantamweight, these are the sort of dudes he has to beat.

Marcin Held

This one goes without saying. In two fights, Held has shown the ability to compete with the "names" of the UFC but he's 0-2 and his cardio continues to be frustrating. He got a bad deal vs Joe Lauzon but he didn't push to leave no doubt and as such, there was doubt. Held has gone from co-maining in his first two fights to holding up a spot opening up the prelims. It's a low pressure situation against an opponent who will probably not bother him much (Damir Hadzovic).

Five Underlying Themes

1- The crowd! As of this point, the UFC hasn't been back to Sweden since early 2015 when Gus got eradicated by Rumble. Gus tends to guarantee a traveling group of fans so how will it look when they go back to his home?

2- The hype of Misha Cirkunov. As discussed previously, Cirkunov has been slowly coming into his own recently but he's still kind of untested. What's more, this is a big chance for him to maybe get the exposure he should get. Don't forget that Cirkunov reps Canada as well and given that markets complete and utter deterioration, he might be very important going forward. Consider it an investment for the future I guess.

3- There was a time where Sweden looked like it was on the verge of becoming an MMA superpower or at the very least one of the bigger countries for MMA. A lot has changed since then but could a revitalized Gustafsson plus a host of guys on the comeback lead to a turnaround?

4- FS1 broadcasts that start really early in the day tend to have a lot of dry spells in between fights. Will they speed this one up to get us out of here early or is it going to be the same old same old?

5- What will be THIS WEEK's "Adventures in MMA rules" scandal?

#MMA #Precarious Ponderings #Sweden #UFC #Gus #Glover

4 notes · View notes

torentialtribute · 6 years ago

Text

UFC London preview – Darren Till vs Jorge Masvidal, Leon Edwards vs Gunnar Nelson

The UFC returns to London and the UK fans have been served up a cracker or a card at the O2 Arena.

Darren Till, the biggest name in British MMA, headlines the show and is desperate to get back on track against the dangerous Jorge Masvidal. His domestic rival Leon Edwards faces Gunnar Nelson in the co-main event.

Here, Sportsmail takes a closer look at each fight on Saturday's main card.

Darren Till (17-1-1) vs Jorge Masvidal (32-13-0) )

WELTERWEIGHT

The 'Gorilla' returns to home comfort after suffering a fair beating by Tyron Woodley in his title shot last September.

Till has been typically honest in his self-assessment after that failure but is equally adamant that there will be a welterweight coronation in his future somewhere along the line.

The heavy-handed Liverpudlian loves fighting on home peat and will milk every second of his walk to the cage as 'Sweet Caroline' rings around the O2 Arena on Saturday night.

The 'Gorilla' (bottom) was comprehensively beaten by Tyron Woodley in his title fight

He's No 3 in the rankings, meaning no softball opposition to get back on track, just a potentially nasty pot-hole in the shape of perennial contender Jorge Masvidal.

'Gamebred' is a bit of a fan favorite, doesn't take himself too seriously and is one of those fighters you can actually tell the combat itself.

Growing up with fights on the street, Masvidal is unlikely to be overawed by the occasion but cage-rest could be a concern.

By the time he steps into the octagon, the American will have out of action for 497 days, the longest lay-off of his career.

A defeat by Till would be his third in a row following losses to Stephen Thompson and Demian Maia but the 34-year-old can't get desperate.

If Masvidal becomes reckless and marches forwards, there is no doubt that Till has the power and size at this weight to switch his lights off.

Till has described the botched title shot as a 'thorn' in him that he can't get out but an emphatic victory would go some way to exorcising those demons.

If he is going to fulfill his title ambitions and one day earn a dream fight at his promised Anfield, these are the fights he must win.

Leon Edwards (16-3-0) vs. Gunnar Nelson (17-3-1)

WELTERWEIGHT

Edwards has been champing at the bit for a domestic showdown with Till.

So far the Birmingham fighter's appeals have fallen on deaf ears but it feels inevitable that their paths will cross at some point, particularly if he adds to the six-fight winning streak he's pieced together over three years.

'Rocky' overcame Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone last June and has been rewarded by another big name, Gunnar Nelson.

Leon 'Rocky' Edwards has huge fights on the horizon but Gunnar Nelson is a tough task

As part of John Kavanagh's SBG stable in Ireland and training with the likes of Conor McGregor, the Icelander has benefited from some shine-by-association but fully deserves his spot in the co-main event.

He is a ruthless killer on the ground and Edwards will have to avoid a tangle on the mat at all costs.

The British fighter, ranked three spots above Nelson at No. 10, will be right in the mix of top challengers if he can escape the black-belt's clutches with a win.

If Nelson ever moves onto pastures new, perhaps you'll see him as a professional dancer, his Call On Me take in the build-up to this one was something to behold …

Volkan Uzdemir (15-3-0) vs Dominick Reyes (9-0-0)

HEAVYWEIGHT

"No Time" has been having a tough time recently with two successive losses for the first time in his UFC career.

The Swiss fighter fell short in his title shot against Daniel Cormier and was then ruthlessly sent by Anthony Smith.

Whether he's found his level will be determined by how he gets on about unbeaten slugger Dominick Reyes.

Reyes has the longest reach on the whole card at 77 inches and Uzdemir's lights could go out if he finds himself on the end of one of those shots.

These two could really get the crowd going prior to the co-main and main events to follow.

Volkan Uzdemir (left) wants to desperate to get back to winning ways about Dominick Reyes

Nathaniel Wood (15-3-0) vs. Jose Quinonez (7-2-0) )

BANTAMWEIGHT

Wood will be one of the most supported fighters on the card. London is his hometown and the fans will be baying for blood.

He's undefeated since joining the UFC but faces the toughest test of his career against Mexican Jose Quinonez.

On paper they are very matched, Quinonez with a height reach advantage but Wood with lightning speed.

As ever with the bantamweights, the pace of the fight will be pedal to the metal and there should be blink-and-you'll-miss-it action from start to finish.

If Wood has raised his hand, he'll be right in the thick of the bantamweight division with a big fight surely to follow.

Nathaniel Wood (top) has excelled since being signed by the UFC and has the crowd on his side

Nathaniel Wood will have the home crowd behind him against Jose Quinonez (right)

Danny Roberts (16-3-0) vs Claudio Silva (11-1-0)

WELTERWEIGHT

"Hot Chocolate" may not yet have drawn the acclaim or attention of his welterweight compatriots further up the card but he's entering his prime now.

With two victories in his two most recent fights under his belt, the 170-pounder can take a major step in the right direction with a win over unbeaten challenger Claudio Silva.

Silva may have a loss on his record but that was a disqualification for illegal elbows.

He is a submission expert and the thicker man so Roberts would be wise in keeping the exchanges on the feet if he can. 'Hot Chocolate' won in the O2 a year ago with a huge KO or Oliver Enkamp (see below)

He's been training with new welterweight champion Kamaru Usman so should be well battle hardened for this one.

There was some tension between Danny Roberts (left) and Claudio Silva (right)

Jack Marshman (22-8-0) vs John Phillips (21-7-0, 1 NC)

MIDDLEWEIGHT

The first all-Welsh fight in UFC history.

This one has been in the pipeline for years as both Marshman and Phillips have been on the same MMA circuits but never crossed paths.

There has been sportsmanship in the build-up but neither will want to head back across the Severn as the beaten man.

Marshman was the only fighter on the card who missed weight and hasforced 20 per cent of his purse to his rival.

Source link

#UFC London preview – Darren Till vs Jorge Masvidal #Leon Edwards vs Gunnar Nelson"

0 notes