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This weekend sees the UFC once again visit Las Vegas for another Fight Night card. After giving up the spotlight to Jake Paul and Tyron Woodley last weekend, all eyes should be on the octagon this time.
UFC Fight Night: Derek Brunson vs. Darren Till is an intriguing-looking card filled with talent from top to bottom, but most notably, there are a number of top European prospects to watch.
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With charismatic debutants, hard-hitting strikers, slick submission artists and two high-level contenders on offer, this is a UFC show that will be worth watching for any fan.
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With that considered, here are five reasons to watch UFC Fight Night: Derek Brunson vs. Darren Till.
#5 Paddy Pimblett is the most intriguing UFC debutant for a long time
Given its overall dominance over the MMA scene these days, truly intriguing UFC debutants, unless a Bellator champion makes the jump, are few and far between.
That isn’t the case this weekend though, as former Cage Warriors champion Paddy Pimblett will be making his long-awaited UFC debut.
‘The Baddy’ has been talked about as a potential UFC superstar for years now, and although his record isn’t littered with well-known names, it’s easy to see why there are such high hopes for him.
Pimblett is a hugely charismatic fighter with natural skills on the microphone, meaning he’ll be more than capable of stealing the show this weekend.
And his fighting skills are just as exciting as his personality. He’s got an excellent finishing rate and fights with the kind of reckless abandon that’s bound to endear him to UFC fans. The fact that just four of his 16 career wins have gone the distance tells its own story.
It looks like the UFC also understand Pimblett’s potential star qualities. Not only have they given him plenty of attention leading into this weekend’s event, they’ve also matched him with a beatable opponent in the form of Luigi Vendramini.
So if ‘The Baddy’ can overcome Vendramini, there’s every chance that he could also become the UFC’s next big thing. His debut fight will be well worth watching this event for.
#4 Modestas Bukauskas vs. Khalil Rountree promises to be a wild stand-up affair
Some UFC fights don’t necessarily need highly-ranked combatants to make them well worth watching. A perfect example is the light heavyweight bout between Modestas Bukauskas and Khalil Rountree that’s scheduled to go down this weekend.
Despite the UFC light heavyweight division being somewhat thin on talent, neither man is ranked in the top fifteen right now. That's probably because they’re both coming off back-to-back losses.
However, both ‘The Baltic Gladiator’ and ‘The War Horse’ fight in a very similar style. Essentially, they’re both likely to throw heavy leather at their opponent until someone is knocked unconscious.
We’ve seen examples of this throughout the UFC careers of both men. Bukauskas knocked out Andreas Michailidis and then fell to a KO himself against Jimmy Crute. Rountree, meanwhile, took out the likes of Gokhan Saki and Paul Craig, but was stopped by Johnny Walker and Ion Cutelaba.
More than any other fight on this weekend’s UFC card, it’s absolutely impossible to imagine this clash going the distance. If both men come in and fight in their usual style, someone is getting knocked out, and it’ll likely be in highlight-reel fashion too.
With a don’t-blink clash on the main card, this UFC Fight Night is surely worth watching.
#3 Alex Morono has a chance to prove he's for real after his win over UFC legend Donald Cerrone
It’s always intriguing to see how a fighter can follow up the first really big win of their career. And at this weekend’s UFC Fight Night, we should find out exactly how good Alex Morono really is.
Morono has been in the UFC since 2016, and holds a record of 8-4-1. But despite that being a solid ledger, few fans would’ve taken note of ‘The Great White’ prior to his win over UFC legend Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in May.
Morono looked excellent in that fight, dismantling Cerrone with hard, accurate strikes en route to a first round TKO. Prior to this, however, he’d shown no signs that he was capable of beating a top level opponent in the octagon.
So how much of that win came from Morono making the necessary improvements - and how much of it was caused by Cerrone’s rapidly waning durability?
We should hopefully find out the answer to that question this weekend, as Morono takes on David Zawada. Nobody is going to mistake the German for a top ten welterweight right now, as he’s just 1-3 in the UFC and has only fought once since November 2019.
However, ‘Sagat’ does have talent, and has shown substantial skills in all areas since arriving in the UFC in 2018. He’s more than capable of springing an upset, especially if Morono comes in overconfident.
But if ‘The Great White’ is for real, then he should roll over Zawada this weekend, giving him an impressive follow-up to that Cerrone win. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see what happens in this fight.
#2 Tom Aspinall might be the UFC heavyweight division’s best prospect
The UFC’s heavyweight division is an interesting place at the minute, as the promotion hopes to put together a title unification bout between champion Francis Ngannou and interim champ Ciryl Gane in the near future.
However, the best prospect in the division may well be in action this Saturday, as the UK’s Tom Aspinall takes on Sergey Spivak.
Still just 28 years old, Aspinall is unbeaten in the UFC at 3-0, and none of his opponents have gotten out of the second round. But what makes this British heavyweight such an intriguing prospect isn’t his finishing rate – it’s his smooth overall skills.
When he debuted in the UFC, many observers talked him up as the UK’s equivalent to Frank Mir – a large and brutal submission expert. However, since arriving he’s done more damage with his strikes.
And unlike many UFC heavyweights, Aspinall isn’t just a sloppy power puncher, instead preferring to use a more technical stand-up game to do damage to his foes. So essentially, his skills in all areas already set him apart from the majority of the division.
Right now, Aspinall is ranked at #13 in the division – one spot ahead of Spivak. However, it’s likely that if he wins this clash, he’ll climb the ladder anyway, as fighters like Walt Harris and Augusto Sakai are hardly on great runs right now.
Will this be a ‘fight of the night’ contender? It’s not likely, as Aspinall is fully expected to smash Spivak. However, based on his previous showings, it should be entertaining to watch nonetheless.
#1 The main event could decide the next UFC middleweight title challenger
Naturally, the best fight on this weekend’s UFC Fight Night card is the main event, which pits middleweight contenders Derek Brunson and Darren Till against each other.
Not only is this an intriguing fight because both men are highly ranked in the division – Brunson at #5, Till at #7 – but it could well end up deciding the next challenger for the UFC middleweight title.
Current champion Israel Adesanya is expected to defend against top contender Robert Whittaker next. But after that – regardless of who wins – the next challenger is up in the air.
Jared Cannonier would be the most obvious top contender after his recent win over Kelvin Gastelum, but while Brunson isn’t likely to leapfrog him, the same can’t be said for Till.
‘The Gorilla’ is a far more marketable fighter than Cannonier, and more to the point, Adesanya – who seems likely to overcome Whittaker – has already marked him out as a potentially interesting foe.
So if the native of Liverpool can overcome Brunson this weekend, there’s every chance that his next fight might be for the UFC middleweight title.
A chance to see a potential top contender in action is simply not something that can be missed, and so Till in action means this show should be a must-see for any UFC fan.
