London has become a hotbed for UFC action and the promotion is returning to the capital city of England and the O2 Arena this week for UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Aspinall. The main attraction is a heavyweight tussle between top contenders within the division. According to oddsmakers the bout should be close opening as a tossup. Early money flowed toward Tom Aspinall making him the favorite in his return to London with a perfect record inside the Octagon. A winner in his last eight fights, Chris Curtis entertains Jack Hermansson in a welterweight co-main event.
The action inside the Octagon will be fierce with 14 scheduled bouts making up the fight card on Saturday, July 23 from O2 Arena in London, England. Preliminary round matches are slated to start at 11 a.m. ET with the main card set for 2 p.m. ET. Every fight can be seen on ESPN+. You can wager on an outright winner and also a specific round and method of victory. Odds for every bout on the ticket are available at BookMaker.eu when you’re ready to place a wager.
UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Aspinall Odds
Main Card
Tom Aspinall -135 vs. Curtis Blaydes +105
Chris Curtis -110 vs. Jack Hermansson -120
Jordan Leavitt +201 vs. Paddy Pimblett -260
Alexander Gustafsson +155 vs. Nikita Krylov -196
Hannah Goldy +307 vs. Molly McCann -425
Volkan Oezdemir -170 vs. Paul Craig +135
The six-fight main card is highlighted by heavyweights Aspinall (12-2) and Blaydes (16-3) in a battle with potential to be epic. Aspinall returns to London where he submitted Alexander Volkov in the first round of his last fight, which was his toughest to date. It was the eighth straight victory for the Brit with all but one of them ending in the first round. The fight that went beyond five minutes didn’t last long with a second round submission of Andrei Arlovski in February 2021.
Aspinall has never gone the distance with all his fights ending before the conclusion of the second round. While not as devastating as his opponent, Blaydes is an accomplished fighter in his own right bouncing back from a loss to Derrick Lewis to win his last two fights. His two other losses were to Francis Ngannou. Blaydes is a superior wrestler with the ability to win this fight if he can get to the mat. Standing toe-to-toe with Aspinall is disaster waiting to happen. However, the all-around arsenal of Aspinall and his raw power will be too much for Blaydes to handle.
UFC Prediction: Tom Aspinall -135 / (T)KO
The only thing that could hold Chris Curtis (29-8) back is his volume of work. One of if not the busiest fighter in UFC, he enters the Octagon for the fifth time in the last 12 months as a replacement for Darren Till in this middleweight bout with Jack Hermansson (22-7). Curtis is 3-0 inside the Octagon with eight straight wins dating back to January 2020. He’s a vicious striker with six fights stopped during his winning streak. However, he displayed a tactical game plan in a unanimous decision over Rodolfo Vieira in June putting him on the verge of cracking the top-15. Listed as the -120 favorite, it’s been a bumpy ride for Hermansson alternating wins and losses over his last six fights. Most recently he lost a split decision to Sean Strickland in the main event in February.
UFC Prediction: Chris Curtis -110 / Decision
UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Aspinall Odds
Prelims
Ludovit Klein +264 vs. Mason Jones -355
Damir Hadzovic +270 vs. Marc Diakiese -365
Charles Rosa +405 vs. Nathaniel Wood -600
Makwan Amirkhani +165 vs. Jonathan Pearce -210
Charles Johnson +337 vs. Muhammad Mokaev -475
Kyle Nelson +218 vs. Jai Herbert -285
Victoria Leonardo -103 vs. Mandy Bohm -127
Claudio Silva +197 vs. Nicolas Dalby -255
Eight fights are schedule for the preliminary round with a wide range of odds in the bouts. Despite not fighting in nearly two years and making the move up from bantamweight, Nathaniel Wood is a massive -600 favorite in his featherweight debut with Charles Rosa (14-7). Wood scored submission wins in his first three UFC fights before losing to John Dodson in 2020. He hasn’t been inside the Octagon since a unanimous decision loss to Casey Kenney in October 2020.
Undefeated Muhammed Mokaev (7-0) is another big favorite at -475 in his flyweight scrap with newcomer Charles Johnson (11-2). One of the top UFC prospects, Mokaev needed less than a minute to stop Cody Durden in his promotional debut. Riding a four-fight winning streak, Johnson won the Legacy Fighting Alliance flyweight title and successfully defended twice before making the move to UFC. Both have a record of finishing their fights with Mokaev a strong wrestler and grappler while Johnson will knock the snot out of you.
