Main Event: Tyron Woodley vs Darren Till (UFC Welterweight Championship)
Betting Odds: Woodley -106 or 10/11, Till -102 or 10/11
The most underrated UFC champion right now without question is Tyron Woodley, he ripped the belt from the clutches of popular champion Robbie Lawler within a couple minutes of the opening round at UFC 201.
Woodley was out of action for 18 months before dethroning Lawler who hadn’t lost in such emphatic fashion as a Welterweight since being stopped by Nick Diaz all the way back in 2004.
The reason Woodley isn’t being celebrated as perhaps he should be is the three title defences he’s made (1 draw) have been mostly uneventful, the best out the three was the first fight against Stephen Thompson which was soured by the decision, the rematch never heated up which is regrettably the only way to fight Stephen Thompson without in Tyron Woodley’s own words getting “kicked upside the head”.
After removing Stephen Thompson from the equation the next challenger was Demian Maia who attempted 21 takedowns during his fight with Woodley securing none. You can imagine if you haven’t seen that fight how frustrating it must have been to watch a guy attempt an average of 4 takedowns per round without any success, Woodley won the fight almost exclusively on takedown defence.
During those anti-climactic title defences, there were still glimpses of the danger an explosive athlete like Woodley possesses.
Even though striking isn’t Woodley’s bread & butter he’s proved that he can be a handful for anyone standing up, should the fight hit the mat that’s where Woodley has the best chance of success.
Darren Till is the beneficiary of unusual circumstances & somewhat unjustly finds himself in a title fight, Colby Covington earned an Interim Welterweight Title just two months ago, it makes more sense to give him the required time to recover so he could fight Woodley but the UFC was eager for a Welterweight Title fight so here we are.
That being said it’s not as if Till lacks the ability to become champion, it’s more a case of this fight could be premature much like Henry Cejudo’s first crack at the Flyweight Title.
Till is from England where the fans get behind their fighters with unrivalled support, the UFC I’m sure would like to host another PPV event on British soil sometime in the near future, a champion from England would increase the likelihood of that happening.
How can Till win this fight? well, he’s a huge Welterweight, probably the biggest Welterweight on the roster. His strength is his striking distance & sound execution of striking technique.
His one-sided rout of Cerrone proved he’s a legitimate talent, the fight with Wonderboy (regardless of how you scored it) showed he can hang with the best in the world.
The biggest concern for me is Till hasn’t fought many of the top ten especially the guys with wrestling bases like Woodley, it’s a big ask to solve that puzzle for the first time at the highest level in a five-round fight with Tyron Woodley.
A win makes Till an instant national hero, a loss sends him back towards the fighters who pose a similar threat to Woodley which could be the beginning of a nightmare for Till, Woodley has an opponent that will finally give him the type of fight that fans will like, Darren Till will attack aggressively it’s up to Woodley to make the most of it.
Co-Main Event: Nicco Montano vs Valentina Shevchenko (UFC Womens Flyweight Title)
Betting Odds: Montano +917 or 8/1, Shevchenko -1075 or 1/14
Dominant champions are somewhat of a theme in Women’s MMA, Cris Cyborg, Ronda Rousey, Amanda Nunes, & of course the recently defeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The Flyweight division has only ever had one champ the current title holder Nicco Montano who won The Ultimate Fighter reality show which also crowned her the inaugural Women’s Flyweight Champion.
The division was highly competitive on paper prior to Valentina Shevchenko moving down, you had four or five women who could potentially all beat each other, Shevchenko has changed all that by deciding to campaign as a Flyweight.
Shevchenko’s only losses in the UFC have come against Amanda Nunes, in both fights, Shevchenko was outpointed by the narrowest of margins against a woman who’s been almost unstoppable in recent years. Outside of those losses Shevchenko has looked good, besting Holly Holm over 5 rounds in a fight which was almost exclusively a kickboxing match.
Submitting Juliana Pena to win a performance of the night bonus.
Earlier this year, Valentina made her Flyweight debut submitting Priscila Cachoeira via rear naked choke, she looked healthy at the weight, in fact, she’s physically more suited to Flyweight than she was at Bantamweight so in many ways the losses to Nunes weren’t all that detrimental.
The bad news here is the division that was originally so open is now looking like it will be just another one with a dominant champion, Valentina is a big favourite in this fight & rightly so, she has a wealth of experience along with many strengths & no glaring weaknesses now size isn’t a factor. It’s very difficult to see Montano troubling Shevchenko at all. Still, crazier thing’s have happened in the fight game.
Special Mention
Zabit Magomedsharipov
Originally scheduled to face Yair Rodriguez at this event but due to an injury, Brandon Davis will now take his place, the fight with Rodriguez was more exciting simply because both men have flamboyant striking styles which were a recipe for something special. Let’s hope the UFC reschedule that for sometime later this year.
Brandon Davis is no Yair Rodriguez by any stretch of the imagination he’s 2-2 with the UFC (if you include his win in Dana White’s Contender Series) hasn’t shown anything that would make me believe he can cause Zabit any issues so this is nothing but a chance to make a name for himself.
Zabit Magomedsharipov who still wanted to compete on this card gets another chance to entertain the crowd whilst continuing his momentum of impressive wins, last time out against Kyle Bochniak he put on a clinic.
Every so often a talent comes along who has a unique aura or ability, Zabit looks to be a gifted martial artist who could become one of the best in the world, possibly something even greater.
(Predictions)
Tyron Woodley vs Darren Till (Woodley KO/TKO)
Nicco Montano vs Valentina Shevchenko (Shevchenko TKO)
Zabit Magomedsharipov vs Brandon Davis (Zabit Submission)
Jessica Andrade vs Karolina Kowalkiewicz (Andrade Decision)
Abdul Razak Alhassan vs Niko Price (Alhassan KO/TKO)
All video content belongs to UFC/WME
Odds correct at the time of publishing