UFC Fight Night 127 takes place on Saturday in London, England and we’ve got our predictions for all the fights for you below.
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Main Card (UFC Fight Pass):
Fabricio Werdum vs. Alexander Volkov
Given Werdum’s BJJ prowess, its likely that Volkov will be looking to keep this fight standing tomorrow in London, and that suits his skill set and physique as he’s the taller man, has a four inch reach advantage and operates well from range with straight punches and kicks.
Werdum has a good striking game of his own these days though and won’t be afraid to mix it up on the feet with Volkov, though he’s savvy enough to know that his best chance for a finish will come on the mat, and that will result in fourth round submission stoppage.
Fabricio Werdum to win by submission in Rd4.
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Jan Blachowicz vs. Jimi Manuwa
These two light-heavyweights have fought before, with Manuwa emerging with a decision victory back in 2015, but after a shaky spell, Blachowicz’s game has began to solidify recently, while ‘Poster Boy’s’ chin has been cracked a couple of times, inbetween racking up some more impressive KO victories.
Blachowicz has never been much of a KO finisher though and is significantly slower than his opponent, so even if Manuwa’s ability to take a punch has diminished, the Polish fighter might not be the one to be able to take advantage of that.
Instead, Blachowicz might be better off trying to use his wrestling to stifle the UK fighter’s extremely dangerous offense, but with Manuwa being such an effective striker from any range, incuding the clinch, he could well find a finish inside the distance here.
Jimi Manuwa to win by TKO in Rd2.
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Tom Duquesnoy vs. Terrion Ware
We have two bantamweight fighters that seem to be heading on different career paths in this match-up, with the 24-year-old Duquesnoy being considered a significant prospect in the division, while the 31-year-old Ware is being pushed into more of a gatekeeper role.
That should show in the Octagon, with Ware proving to be durable and putting up a fight of it, on the feet but Duquesnoy proving to be the better fighter and all-round athlete as he racks up a healthy advantage in terms of strikes en-route to a decision victory.
Tom Duquesnoy to win by decision.
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Leon Edwards vs. Peter Sobotta
Both of these fighters are strikers who can also wrestle, with Edwards in particular having switched to using grappling primarily in last few bouts.
This should be a closely fought encounter, but I think Edwards is just a little bit ahead of Sobotta skill-wise and will enjoy some spells of control on top on his way to a decision victory.
Leon Edwards to win by decision.
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Prelims (UFC Fight Pass): (Predicted winners in bold)
John Phillips vs. Charles Byrd
Danny Roberts vs. Oliver Enkamp
Danny Henry vs. Hakeem Dawodu
Paul Craig vs. Magomed Ankalaev
Mark Godbeer vs. Dmitriy Sosnovskiy
Nad Narimani vs. Nasrat Haqparast
Kajan Johnson vs. Steven Ray
