WHAT: UFC Fight Night 127
WHEN: Saturday March 17th 2018 [1330ET, 1830GMT]
WHERE: The O2 Arena, London
The worlds leading Mixed Martial Arts organisation, the 'Ultimate Fighting Championship' are all set for their 10th visit to London tomorrow night and they bring with them a card brimming with a mixture of experienced global talent and local favourites.
British fighters find their way into 9 of the 11 confirmed bouts and we'll take a look at those below, but we'll start with the Main Event and work our way down the card.
The Main Event will be a heavyweight clash between former world champion Fabricio Werdum (23-7-1) and steadily rising Russian contender Alexander Volkov (29-6). Traditionally this match up would have been seen as a clash of styles as Werdum has earned much of his success due to his highly decorated Jiu-Jitsu ability, though notably he has displayed excellent striking in more recent bouts. Alexander Volkov however is a gangly kick boxer with a long and lean 6ft 7in frame who tends to do well when he's able to keep his opponent at range. By most accounts this is a fairly even contest which is likely to be won by the fighter who is able to take the fight (or keep it) in the realm of their true strength. Additionally the winner of the bout likely places themselves into a fight with current world champion Stipe Miocic - so plenty to play for!
The Co-Main Event features a rematch of a 2015 fight between local pugilist Jimi Manuwa (17-3) and Polish bruiser Jan Blachowicz (21-7). That contest ended in a sound unanimous decision victory for the Brit who used pressure and a superior kick boxing game to secure the points.
The rest of the Main card features an excellent bantamweight bout between French standout Tom Duquesnoy (15-2) and the resilient Terrion Ware (17-6). In another bout dubbed (tounge-in-cheekly) the 'Jamaican Main Event' we see a welterweight clash between Peter Sobotta (17-5), a German veteran who has chosen to represent Jamaica in his recent fights and the British-born Leon Edwards (14-3) who is of Jamaican heritage.
As we move down the card we'll finally get to see the long awaited UFC debut of Welsh power puncher John Phillips (21-7) who after a sequence of set backs has seen him wait over 12 months to experience the lights, camera and action of the UFC. His opponent Charles Byrd (9-4) is also making his official UFC debut after two successful bouts on the recent 'Dana Whites Contender Series' events. UK standout Danny Roberts (14-3) will also look to bounce back from a recent unfortunate loss by taking on Swedish baby-face Oliver Enkamp (7-1). Canadian Hakeem Dawodu (7-0-1) will also face Scottish former 'EFC Global' champion Danny Henry (11-2) which should provide us with a great barometer on where both fighters go from here. Light heavyweights Magomed Ankalaev (10-0) and Paul Craig (9-2) will also go at it, the Russian Ankalaev has looked particularly impressive on the Russian circuit. Touring Canadian Kajan Johnson (22-12-1) meets veteran Stevie Ray (21-7) who is fresh off a contractual dispute that left him and his fan base in limbo, thankfully cooler heads have prevailed and he'll go to war tomorrow. A heavyweight clash between the excellently named Mark Godbeer (13-3) and undefeated, debuting Ukrainian Dmitry Sosnovskiy (10-0) has also set to go ahead and finally the night is set to open with German prospect Nasrat Haqparast (8-2) and former Cage Warriors featherweight Nad Narimani (10-2).
Card in full:
MAIN EVENT
Fabricio Werdum vs. Alexander Volkov
CO-MAIN EVENT:
Jimi Manuwa vs. Jan Blachowicz
MAIN CARD
Tom Duquesnoy vs. Terrion Ware
Leon Edwards vs. Peter Sobottta
PRE LIMS
John Phillips vs. Charles Byrd
Danny Roberts vs. Oliver Enkamp
Hakeem Dawodu vs. Danny Henry
Magomed Ankalaev vs. Paul Craig
Kajan Johnson vs. Stevie Ray
Mark Godbeer vs. Dmitry Sosnovskiy
Nasrat Haqparast vs. Nad Narimani