A new light heavyweight contender will emerge in Saturday’s main event, while a legend of British MMA bows out in front of his home crowd

Jimi Manuwa vs. Corey Anderson – Light Heavyweight

In the main event, London’s own Jimi Manuwa takes on rising light heavyweight contender Corey Anderson, in a battle that will decide who’s the ‘best of the rest’ at 205lbs. Manuwa is coming off one of the knockouts of the year against Ovince Saint Preux at UFC 204 last October, whereas Anderson made light work of the unranked Sean O’Connell last December.

Manuwa, aged 37, was very late to start training in MMA; having begun learning the sport at 27 – Anderson’s current age. Despite this age difference, the two are almost identical in terms of UFC experience, as well as height and reach, meaning neither man will have a clear physical advantage on Saturday night.

Manuwa will, however, have the advantage in the stand-up. He has consistently demonstrated his powerful striking throughout his career, amassing 14 TKO or KO finishes in his 18 professional fights. It will be interesting to see how the threat of a takedown could allow Anderson to negate this disparity in striking ability.

‘Poster Boy’ is currently ranked 4th at light heavyweight, while TUF 19 winner Anderson is 6th. Regrettably, Anderson’s ranking seems to be a testament to the current barren state of the 205 pound division, rather than his skill.

That being said, the American, who now goes by ‘Overtime’, is constantly improving and a win over Manuwa would be the biggest of his career, launching him into title contender status.

A victory for Manuwa would leave him in an odd predicament, having already lost decisively to elite 205lbs fighters Anthony Johnson and Alexander Gustafsson, meaning a title shot will remain unlikely for now.

Prediction: Manuwa via TKO

Gunnar Nelson vs. Alan Jouban – Welterweight

We can hope for a Fight of the Night candidate as two of the UFC’s most exciting welterweights square off. Icelander Gunnar ‘Gunni’ Nelson returns to the octagon after a 10 month lay-off to face Alan ‘Brahma’ Jouban in Saturday night’s co-main event.

Nelson is coming off the biggest win of his career last May, when he went toe to toe on the feet against striking specialist Albert Tumenov, before submitting the Russian with a rear-naked choke. Nelson is ranked 9th in the stacked 170lbs division and is still relatively young at 28 years old.

His opponent Jouban is riding an impressive 3-fight win streak, recently outclassing the dangerous ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry in December. Jouban, who is also a model, is currently unranked but will be looking to seize the opportunity to finally establish himself as a top 10 welterweight.

Jouban’s aggressive Muay Thai approach could play right into Nelson’s hands, leaving him prone to being taken down, which is the last thing he wants against the Renzo Gracie BJJ black belt. Moreover, Nelson’s karate-style striking allows him to quickly move in and out of range, and to level change for a takedown as he did against Tumenov.

Despite his youthful looks, Jouban is 35 years old, meaning a win is imperative if he is to ever establish himself as a potential title contender.

Prediction: Nelson via Decision

Brad Pickett vs. Marlon Vera – Bantamweight

Few men have done as much for UK MMA as Brad Pickett, whose lengthy, illustrious career comes to an end on Saturday night as he faces promising Ecuadorian youngster Marlon Vera.

This will be the Londoner’s 39th professional fight, a stint which includes a victory over current pound-for-pound #1 Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. Pickett’s last outing was a decision loss to the retiring Urijah Faber in the latter’s home city of Sacramento last December.

Saturday’s fight will see an almost identical situation, though this time it will be Pickett’s swansong. It is clearly the right time for him to call it a day, as his last six fights have seen just one victory and five defeats, taking a lot of damage in the losses to Thomas Almeida, Iuri Alcântara and the aforementioned Faber.

His opponent, Vera, is a 24-year old southpaw and former TUF: Latin America contestant. His long frame and crafty submission game could be his key to victory. Pickett will of course have other ideas, and will want to justify his nickname ‘One Punch’ one last time in front of his home crowd.

Prediction: Pickett via Decision

Arnold Allen vs. Makwan Amirkhani – Featherweight

The main card opener features Suffolk’s exciting young prospect, Arnold ‘Almighty’ Allen, who makes his third UFC appearance as he faces his toughest challenge to date, in the form of Finnish wrestler Makwan Amirkhani.

At just 23 years old, Allen is highly touted, rated as the 3rd best featherweight in the UK by The Sprawl. We last saw Allen in action in February 2016, when he displayed great maturity and patience, cruising to a unanimous decision (and an unofficial knockout) over veteran Yaotzin Meza.

The charismatic Amirkhani could prove to be a hard puzzle for Allen to solve. The Finn is renowned for his elite wrestling, though he also has strong submission skills, having submitted 10 of his 15 career opponents.

Although Allen’s best attribute is probably his boxing, it may be his ever improving grappling under coach Firas Zahabi that will be his key to victory.

Prediction: Amirkhani via Submission

Usually, fights that take place on UFC Fight Pass don’t feature the biggest names, and don’t really get fans too excited, but if you’re thinking of missing these Fight Pass Prelims, you better cancel your plans.

Saturday night’s prelims will all be aired on UFC Fight Pass, commencing at 5:30PM GMT and feature some of the UK’s best young talents.

In the prelim headliner, ‘Irish’ Joe Duffy’s jiu-jitsu skills will be put to the test when he faces high-level grappler Reza Madadi. The Iranian actually holds a D’Arce choke win over Michael Johnson from 2013. We can expect fireworks in this one.

Also look out for exciting English prospects Marc Diakese and Tom Breese as they both look to continue their impressive rises in the UFC, taking on Teemu Packalén and Oluwale Bamgbose, respectively.

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