UFC London is set with its main and co-main event. The card takes place March 16 at The O2 Arena in London, England, and my thoughts on the two new high-profile bouts added to the card are below.
Darren Till vs. Jorge Masvidal, UFC Fight Night 147
An exciting welterweight matchup between Darren Till and Jorge Masvidal is set as the headlining five-round fight at UFC Fight Night 147. ESPN broke the news. Till (17-1-1) is 5-1-1 overall in the UFC and in his last bout suffered his first career loss by submission to champion Tyron Woodley at UFC 228. Till is still one of the most popular fighters in the division, and all of Europe, so despite the loss he always made a lot of sense to headline this card in London. He flirted with the idea of moving up to middleweight but decided to stay at welterweight to get his hands on Masvidal, who stylistically should put on a good fight against Till. Masvidal (32-13) is 9-6 overall in the UFC and hasn’t fought since a 2017 decision loss to Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. He hasn’t actually won a fight in nearly two years since a TKO win over Donald Cerrone, but is still obviously a skilled and dangerous fighter. Masvidal was supposed to fight Nick Diaz at UFC 235, but that fight fizzled and he’ll now take on Till.
I’m expecting a really competitive fight between Till and Masvidal, but given that he’s from England and considering all of the betting support he generally gets, I fully expect Till to be the favorite here. I do think it’s a close fight but would definitely be interested in Masvidal if he’s available at a plus number.
Leon Edwards vs. Gunnar Nelson, UFC Fight Night 147
As well, a welterweight bout between contenders Leon Edwards and Gunnar Nelson will be the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 147. Edwards (16-3) is 8-2 in the UFC and is actually riding a quiet six-fight win streak at the moment with a decision win over Donald Cerrone in his last outing. He’s quietly evolved into one of the best welterweights in the UFC, but has been waiting to get his hands on a top-10 opponent. He’s finally found a taker in the form of Nelson, who is coming off of a huge win over Alex Oliveira at UFC 231. Nelson (17-3-1) rode a 1.5 years layoff into the Oliveira fight but absolutely dominated him for one of the biggest wins of his UFC career to date. He has never risen to the championship level that many observers of the sport expected of him at one point in time, but he’s still proven himself to be a solid fighter at 170lbs, and the win over Oliveira showed just how good he is at his best.
This looks like another competitive fight. Edwards has shown a well-rounded game in his last couple of fights but Nelson is obviously an incredibly-dangerous finisher and is coming off of a big win. Based on the recent win over Oliviera I would guess Nelson is pegged as the favorite here, but I think Edwards could possess a lot of risks in what should be a very close fight.
