MMASucka staff picks and The Ultimate Fighting Championship return once more to the United Kingdom.
UFC Fight Night 224 awaits in the hours ahead later today, July 22nd from the O2 Arena in London, England. This comes as the UFC’s 15th visit to the English capital and their second stop of two scheduled in 2023. The preliminary card will begin at 12:00pm ET (9:00am ET) followed by the main card at 3:00pm ET (12:00pm PT) with all fights available to watch on ESPN+.
Stay tuned to MMASucka for UFC Fight Night 224: Aspinall vs. Tybura results.
The Fights
Top ten ranked heavyweights Tom Aspinall and Marcin Tybura will meet in the night’s main event across five possible five-minute rounds.
Manchester’s own Aspinall makes his awaited octagon return for the first time in 364 days after suffering a first-round knee injury in his July of 2022 main event with Curtis Blaydes. The dangerous finisher has stopped all of his twelve victories through 15 professional bouts as he targets a run like his last of eight straight wins by either knockout or submission. Aspinall’s opponent, Tybura, receives his second main event appearance in what will be his 18th consecutive fight with the promotion. The former M-1 1 Heavyweight Champion has seen great success since 2020 winning seven of his last eight fights including two-straight over then-undefeated Alexander Romanov and former WSOF/PFL Champion Blagoy Ivanov.
In the co-main event, Molly McCann and Julija Stoliarenko are set to clash at 125 pounds. Former Cage Warriors Champion McCann saw her three-fight win streak snapped last November to Erin Blanchfield as she looks to start a new stretch of victories in front of her English crowd. Grappling specialist and former Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion Stoliarenko hopes to rebound after an October of 2022 defeat to Chelsea Chandler while targeting a second UFC win in her sixth promotional outing.
Featherweights looking to climb into the UFC’s top fifteen rankings will square off as former Cage Warriors Bantamweight Champion Nathaniel Wood takes on Team Alpha Male veteran and 19-fight UFC notable Andre Fili.
Three additional fights will take place on the main card. Scotland’s Paul Craig is set for his middleweight debut against Andre Muniz in a fight for grappling lovers. Another former Cage Warriors Champion of Jai Herbert will battle 26-year-old Frenchman Fares Ziam in the lightweight division. Lastly, the main card opener sees a highly-anticipated featherweight matchup between undefeated Lerone Murphy of Manchester and former three-promotional champion Joshua Culibao.
See our picks for these UFC Fight Night 224: Aspinall vs. Tybura fights further below.
Our heavyweights go toe-to-toe at #UFCLondon tonight!
📺 Watch Tom Aspinall vs Marcin Tybura at 8pm BST on TNT Sports in the UK & Ireland pic.twitter.com/BzlukfXJWa
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) July 22, 2023
2023 Staff Picks
MMASucka staff picks are composed of five promotions: the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Bellator MMA, ONE Championship, the Professional Fighters League (PFL), and Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS). UFC and Bellator events feature picks from only main cards. PFL will feature select fights from the main and preliminary card while DWCS sees all fights counted from the event. ONE Championship returns to picks for the first time since 2020 and will feature only mixed martial arts (MMA) fights selected from cards with a minimum three matchups.
The WINNER of staff picks at the end of 2023, who picked the most victorious fighters, will have a choice between receiving a custom-made championship belt from ProAmBelts or a chain from Championship Chains. Staff picks in 2022 was won by Wesley Riddle with a record of 264-135.
Who are the MMASucka staff picking and predicting to win at UFC Fight Night 224: Aspinall vs. Tybura?
Staff Records after UFC on ESPN 49:
1. Michael DeSantis: 160-79
2. Ben Jamieson: 159-80
3. Nate Freeman: 154-85
4. Frazer Krohn: 152-87
5. Jeremy Brand: 151-88
6. Wesley Riddle: 150-89
7. Julio Monteros Jr.: 136-81
8. Jack Goodwillie: 121-66
9. Andrew Benjamin: 119-95
10. Brian Knight: 111-62
11. Tim Wheaton: 105-60
12. Roemello Reyes: 62-34
13. Jonathan Andrade: 31-24
14. Brandon Joint: 12-9
15. Andrew Benjamin: 10-7
16. Joshua Yule: 7-6
17. Antwyn Jackson: 2-3
*Note – not all staff pick for every event*
Lerone Murphy (12-0-1), -140
vs.
Josh Culibao (11-1-1), +120
Featherweight Division
– 145 LBS. ~ 65.8 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Murphy via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Murphy via Split Decision
Michael DeSantis: Murphy via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Murphy via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Murphy via Round 2 TKO
Nate Freeman: Murphy via Unanimous Decision
Julio Monteros Jr.: Murphy via Unanimous Decision
Brian Knight: Murphy via Unanimous Decision
Jack Goodwillie: Murphy via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Murphy via Unanimous Decision
Antwyn Jackson: Murphy via Unanimous Decision
Chris De Santiago: Culibao via Split Decision
Staff picking Murphy: 11
Staff picking Culibao: 1
Jai Herbert (12-4-1), +145
vs.
Fares Ziam (13-4), -170
Lightweight Division
– 155 LBS. ~ 70.3 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Ziam via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: Ziam via Split Decision
Michael DeSantis: Herbert via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Herbert via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: Herbert via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Ziam via Split Decision
Julio Monteros Jr.: Herbert via Split Decision
Brian Knight: Herbert via Unanimous Decision
Jack Goodwillie: Herbert via Round 3 TKO
Ben Jamieson: Ziam via Unanimous Decision
Antwyn Jackson: Herbert via Round 2 TKO
Chris De Santiago: Herbert via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Herbert: 8
Staff picking Ziam: 3
Paul Craig (16-6-1), +190
vs.
Andre Muniz (23-5), -225
Middleweight Division
– 185 LBS. ~ 83.9 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Craig via Round 2 SUB
Wesley Riddle: Muniz via Round 2 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Muniz via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Craig via Round 2 SUB
Frazer Krohn: Muniz via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Muniz via Round 2 SUB
Julio Monteros Jr.: Craig via Round 2 TKO
Brian Knight: Muniz via Round 1 SUB
Jack Goodwillie: Muniz via Round 2 TKO
Ben Jamieson: Muniz via Round 2 TKO
Antwyn Jackson: Muniz via Round 1 SUB
Chris De Santiago: Craig via Round 3 SUB
Staff picking Craig: 4
Staff picking Muniz: 8
Nathaniel Wood (19-5), -205
vs.
Andre Fili (22-9, 1 NC), +175
Featherweight Division
– 145 LBS. ~ 65.8 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Wood via Round 2 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Wood via Unanimous Decision
Michael DeSantis: Wood via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: Wood via Split Decision
Frazer Krohn: Wood via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: Wood via Round 2 TKO
Julio Monteros Jr.: Wood via Unanimous Decision
Brian Knight: Wood via Round 2 TKO
Jack Goodwillie: Wood via Unanimous Decision
Ben Jamieson: Wood via Unanimous Decision
Antwyn Jackson: Wood via Unanimous Decision
Chris De Santiago: Wood via Unanimous Decision
Staff picking Wood: 11
Staff picking Fili: 0
Molly McCann (13-5), -200
vs.
Julija Stoliarenko (10-8-2), +170
Women’s Flyweight Division
– Co-Main Event –
– 125 LBS. ~ 56.7 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: McCann via Unanimous Decision
Wesley Riddle: McCann via Round 2 TKO
Michael DeSantis: McCann via Unanimous Decision
Andrew Benjamin: McCann via Unanimous Decision
Frazer Krohn: McCann via Unanimous Decision
Nate Freeman: McCann via Round 2 TKO
Julio Monteros Jr.: McCann via Round 2 TKO
Brian Knight: McCann via Round 2 TKO
Jack Goodwillie: McCann via Round 2 TKO
Ben Jamieson: McCann via Round 2 TKO
Antwyn Jackson: McCann via Unanimous Decision
Chris De Santiago: McCann via Round 3 TKO
Staff picking McCann: 11
Staff picking Stoliarenko: 0
Tom Aspinall (12-3), -475
vs.
Marcin Tybura (24-7), +380
Heavyweight Division
– Main Event –
– 265 LBS. ~ 120.2 KG. –
Jeremy Brand: Aspinall via Round 4 TKO
Wesley Riddle: Aspinall via Round 3 TKO
Michael DeSantis: Aspinall via Round 3 TKO
Andrew Benjamin: Aspinall via Round 1 TKO
Frazer Krohn: Aspinall via Round 2 SUB
Nate Freeman: Aspinall via Round 1 TKO
Julio Monteros Jr.: Aspinall via Unanimous Decision
Brian Knight: Aspinall via Round 2 SUB
Jack Goodwillie: Aspinall via Round 3 TKO
Ben Jamieson: Aspinall via Round 1 SUB
Antwyn Jackson: Aspinall via Round 3 TKO
Chris De Santiago: Aspinall via Round 1 TKO
Staff picking Aspinall: 12
Staff picking Tybura: 0
