UFC London goes down on Saturday and is headlined by heavyweights Tom Aspinall and Marcin Tybura. The popular Brit is returning to action here for the first time since blowing his knee out against Curtis Blaydes in the headliner of a past UFC London card. He, and the fans, will be hoping for a much different result this time around.
The remainder of UFC London’s card is decent with lots of established British talent taking on foreign challengers. There’s Molly McCann meeting Julija Stoliarenko, Nathanial Wood facing Andre Fili, and Paul Craig tangling with Andre Muniz.
As always, we at BE have poured over the match-ups and risked ridicule by making our public picks for the event.
Everyone, but Chris and his lucky-ish coin, think Aspinall has too much in his locker for the aging Tybura. And we mostly think McCann is going to get the crowd roaring with a win over Stoliarenko.
You can see the rest of our picks below.
UFC London: Aspinall vs. Tybura staff picks
Tom Aspinall vs. Marcin Tybura
Anton Tabuena: If Aspinall’s athleticism and movement still looks close to his past form, stylistically he really should take this. He also just turned 30 and has way more upside. Tom Aspinall by TKO.
Bissell: Aspinall recently labelled himself ‘The Lionel Messi of MMA’, which made me a chuckle a little. He wasn’t suggesting he has the same level of fame or accomplishments as Messi, but rather his fight IQ was on par with Messi’s cleverness on the pitch (where he is a genius at picking passes, runs and placing shots). I think Aspinall is not bad in that department, but no savant.
What he absolutely does have going for him is size, athleticism and youth. I don’t think Marcin Tybura has much to counter that at this stage of his career. I don’t think Aspinall will stop the Polish veteran, partly due to his injury lay-off, but I think he will dominate a long and likely quite boring fight to cap off UFC London. Tom Aspinall by unanimous decision.
Dayne: If there weren’t any concerns about Aspinall’s knee, this would be one of the easiest calls for the entirety of the year. Aspinall was rocketing up the heavyweight rankings, appearing destined to be the next big thing. He could still very well be the next big thing, but we have no idea how well the knee is recovered. Given this is the first fight back from injury, the knee isn’t the only concern; cage rust is as well. Aware of all this and still wanting Aspinall to be the next British champion, it would appear natural the UFC is setting him up for a win here at UFC London.
While that does appear to be the case, Tybura has been set up to be a stepping stone before only to upend the apple cart; Walt Harris and Alexandr Romanov being the most recent cases. He came this close to doing the same thing to Derrick Lewis a number of years back. Despite that, Tybura does appear to have a hard ceiling, a ceiling which Aspinall exceeds. Aspinall would be well served to get some rounds in and test out the knee. I anticipate he’ll try to do that. Tom Aspinall via TKO of RD3
Chris: Oof, this is a rough pick. Normally I’d say Aspinall but the coin has other plans. I guess that knee isn’t all the way ready.
Zane: One of the most consistent big problems for Tybura across his UFC career has been fighters that are more athletic than he is. Even in bouts where he’s rallied back to get the win, those fights often involve him getting absolutely shellacked for a whole round before making a comeback. I don’t think Aspinall will give him the chance. Tom Aspinall via TKO, round 1.
Staff picking Aspinall: Ben, Stephie, Dayne, Kristen, Jack, Lucas, Eddie, Anton, Zane,, Bissell
Staff picking Tybura: Chris
