UFC Fight Night: Derek Brunson vs Darren Till
Ready for Brunson vs Till Free UFC Fight Night 191 Pick and betting odds & predictions? Here is a full breakdown of the leadup, what to expect during the fight, and some logical outcomes.
Event: UFC on ESPN 30: Barboza vs. Chikadze
Date: September 4th, 2021
Time: Main Card: 7 P.M. PST.
Location: UFC Apex, Las Vegas, Nevada
Broadcast: ESPN
Darren Till (-177) vs Derek Brunson (+152)
#7 ranked middleweight Darren Till is coming into this one having dropped 3 of his last 4 fights. Granted, he’s not exactly been fighting nobodies. He lost to Robert Whitaker in his last fight, dropping a decision to him last summer. His fight before that was a split-decision victory over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244. He was knocked out by Jorge Masvidal in the fall of 2019 and dropped a title fight to Tyron Woodley at UFC 228. It’s been several years since he’s looked dominant in the cage, but he’ll be looking to rebound in this fight against Derek Brunson.
Derek Brunson meanwhile comes into this fight on a 4-fight winning streak. He’s defeated Elias Theodorou, Ian Heinisch, Edmen Shahbazyan, and Kevin Holland in that span.
MMA Betting Prediction: While Brunson comes in on a far hotter streak than Till, he hasn’t been fighting the level of competition that Till has in recent years. That might give Till the edge here and help him get back in the win column after a rough stretch.
Tom Aspinall (-241) vs Serghei Spivac (+206)
Tom Aspinall’s UFC career has only spanned a little over 8-minutes of cage time but that’s all he’s needed to find himself in a ranked position. Heading into this one, Aspinall sits at the #13 spot in the UFC heavyweight division. He’s fought 3 times, won 3 times, and finished his opponent in all 3 fights. Only one of those fights made it to the 2nd round and 2 out of the 3 of them earned Aspinall a performance bonus.
After dropping 2 of his first 3 fights in the UFC, #15 ranked Serghei Spivac has rattled off 3 wins and is now in a spot to move further up the division. Spivac earned a victory over Aleksei Oleinik in his last fight back in June and is looking to make it 4 in a row on Saturday night.
MMA Betting Prediction: Aspinall likely has the edge here and should continue his quick rise up the heavyweight rankings.
Alex Morono (-130) vs David Zawada (+110)
Alex Morono will come into this one on the heels of his TKO victory over Donald Cerrone back in May, earning a performance bonus in the process. He dropped a unanimous decision to Anthony Pettis in his fight before that. The 31-year-old will be heading into his 14th UFC fight here. He’s racked up an 8-4-1 record in the promotion.
German-based fighter David Zawada really needs a win here. He is 1-3 to start his UFC career and he won’t want his record to get any worse than that. There is a lot on the line here for the 31-year-old.
MMA Prediction: Morona has the experience edge and should grab the victory here.
Modestas Bukauskas (-157) vs Khalil Rountree (+137)
Modestas Bukauskas is a 4x British kickboxing champion but is 1-2 to start his UFC career. He’s coming off two straight defeats, albeit his last fight was a close split-decision loss to Michał Oleksiejczuk at UFC 260.
Khalil Rountree hasn’t won a fight in over 2 years and has dropped 3 of his last 4 in the UFC. The 31-year-old dropped a decision to Marcin Prachnio at UFC 257 in his last fight.
MMA Prediction: While Rountree has the experience edge, there was talk of him retiring back in 2020. That’s a red flag to be wary of and it’s enough to convince me that Bukauskas has the edge here.
Paddy Pimblett (-154) vs Luigi Vendramini (+134)
Paddy Pimblett will become the latest fighter to move from the Cage Warriors promotion to the UFC when he faces Luigi Vendramini here. He’s coming off two straight victories where he finished his opponent.
Luigi Vendramini will make his 4th trip to the octagon for this one. He’s 1-3 in his first 3 in the UFC. He dropped a close majority decision to Fares Ziam back in June.
MMA Prediction: I’m expecting Pimblett to develop a case of the UFC jitters in his promotional debut. Vendramini doesn’t want to go 1-3 to start his UFC career, so he’s going to be motivated to pull this one out.