The next UFC fight night is here this Saturday, September 4th, as two of the top ranked middleweight fight to get in line to face Israel Adesanya. 5th ranked Derek Brunson will be facing the face of England for UFC, 7th ranked Darren Till. The card overall has a good set of fights. A plethora of fighters in the card reign from England, as Dana White is using this card to showcase some of the best upcoming talent that England has to offer in the UFC. There are 3 main fights on this card I want to highlight for the fans to pay attention to this weekend.
First, the main card starts off with a highly touted prospect that the UFC is excited to bring in as Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett (16-3) makes his debut against Luigi “The Italian Stallion” Vendramini (9-2). Vendramini has a nice skillset. With his nine wins, he has five knockouts and four submissions. He has a black belt in jiu-jitsu that can give Pimblett a battle on the ground. Pimblett has a massive following overseas and the United States finally get to see him in action outside of Cage Warriors. Paddy is known for his wild persona inside the cage and in interviews. He has nine submissions over his career and has had some wild moments standing up. This could be a battle to see who could get the right spot for a submission or it could be a brawl until someone is ended. I believe that the hype around Pimblett will fuel him for an easy victory over Vendramini.
Next, the co-main event for the evening features a battle between two heavyweight prospects, looking to make a name for themselves. The Moldovan/Ukrainian Sergey “Polar Bear” Spivak (13-2) faces off with England’s next big star, the freakish Tom Aspinall (10-2). These two heavyweights have their eyes on moving up into the contender spot for the heavyweight title. Spivak is coming off of three straight impressive performances to put him at the 14th spot in the heavyweight rankings. His last win over the veteran Aleksei Oleinik out the top 15 on notice, but his hands are full with the speedy big man Aspinall. Aspinall is the one of the fastest heavyweights I have seen come through the rankings in recent memory. His style isn’t as complete as the interim heavyweight champion, Cyril Gane, but his speed stands out compared to anyone he has faced. The 13th ranked heavyweight has come into the UFC with two great KO/TKOs over Alan Boudot and Jake Collier, as well as a submission over the former champion, Andrei Arlovski. This has a chance to be the fight of the night. My choose for the fight will be Aspinall by unanimous decision, but don’t be surprised that it ends in a TKO or possible straight knockout.
Finally, this Saturday will be headlined by the heart of Liverpool, Darren “The Gorilla” Till (18-3-1) and the former division II wrestling standout Derek Brunson (22-7). Both guys have the potential to be next in line for a title shot after the rematch between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker. Brunson has been considered the ‘gatekeeper’ of the 185-pound division but has recently made those people eat their words. He is coming off four straight wins after he lost to Adesanya. His last two wins have come against two of the brightest prospects in the division, Kevin Holland and Edmen Shahbazyan, where he easily dominated both fights. Brunson is gaining a ton of respect he deserves around the UFC world, but his toughest match on the win streak is in front of him Saturday with Till. Till has been one of the most popular fighters around with his tremendous skillset, a hilarious personality, and his relentlessness in the octagon. He has been in many great fights already, while only being 28 years old. His only three losses have came against Robert Whittaker, Jorge Masvidal, and Tyron Woodley who all are considered legends of the sport. I believe that both fighters will be bringing their A-game, but Till will be too much for Brunson. Till is hungry to get to the top and will be an animal Saturday. Brunson is looking to grow his reputation, but he is running into maybe the next champion.
This fight night card will show the world some of England’s best talent currently in the UFC. A new potential star may be born with Pimblett, a rising prospect in Aspinall, and the man looking for a title shot in Till. There are plenty of good fights to watch this weekend, but these are the three that most fans should be excited for. There will be no fights on September 10th, so the next fight card will come September 18th where Anthony Smith will take on Ryan Spann.