Curtis Blaydes (16-3) and Tom Aspinall (12-2) are headlining UFC Fight Night at the O2 Arena in London, England this weekend.
The pre-fight narrative: Two top-ranked heavyweights touch gloves this Saturday for an opportunity to move up the rankings and into title contention. Blaydes has won six of his last seven fights while Aspinall is undefeated in the UFC.
Check out our best Blaydes vs. Aspinall picks for July 23.
Blaydes vs. Aspinall picks
Best bet: Tom Aspinall to win (-136)
Aspinall is favoured in this bout for good reason.
The Englishman has been terrorizing the UFC’s heavyweight division for the better part of the past two years, going 5-0 in Dana White’s promotion and winning every fight via finish.
None of Aspinall’s five UFC fights have even made it to the halfway point. The 29-year-old has dispatched four of his opponents in the opening round and one, Andrei Arlovski, 1:09 into the second.
His 7.33 significant strikes landed per minute is good for the eighth-highest mark in UFC history. Aspinall also has the fifth-highest knockdown rate per 15 minutes in UFC history (2.04) and is a strong grappler to boot.
He’s coming off a submission win over Alexander Volkov and has made two additional opponents tap during his career.
Aspinall is a one-man wrecking crew and to put the cherry on top, he’s fighting on home soil in front of what should be a packed O2 Arena.
Bet now: Full UFC Fight Night odds
This won’t be a cakewalk, though, as Blaydes is a formidable opponent.
The 31-year-old has 16 career wins with 11 coming by way of knockout. Blaydes has knockout power but only lands just north of half his strikes (51%).
We think Aspinall has a clear stand-up advantage here and a superior ground game. Let’s roll with the favourite to get it done at home.
Key stat: Aspinall has ended 11 of his 12 wins in the first round.
UFC Fight Night quick pick
Quick pick: Under 2.5 rounds (-125)
Of Aspinall’s 14 professional fights, none have made it past the second round. We’re bullish on that trend continuing this Saturday.
Even in defeat, he has an affinity for quick knockouts. Aspinall has lost two fights, one of which was a KO in Round 2 and one was a DQ for illegal elbows, which still occurred in the second round.
Blaydes’ record in this department is not quite as spotless. He’s gone to decision five times in the UFC with an additional fight ending inside but over this allotted timeframe.
With that being said, Blaydes has been involved in nine instances where his UFC fight ended before the 2:30 mark of Round 3.
Odds as of 1:27 p.m. ET on 07/20/2022.
Disclaimer This content was produced as part of a partnership and therefore it may not meet the standards of impartial or independent journalism.
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