UFC Vegas 36: Brunson vs Till Main Card Betting Preview

Top 10 Middleweight contenders Derek Brunson and Darren Till collide in the main event of UFC Vegas 36 on Saturday night at the UFC’s APEX Facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Brunson heads to this fight with four straight wins while Till had dropped three of four coming to this contest.

In the co-main event, Tom Aspinall looks to move to the Top 10 when he faces Sergey Spivak in a three-round heavyweight feature. Meanwhile, the highly anticipated UFC debut of British MMA superstar Paddy Pimblett will finally take place in the last bout of the main card.

Let’s take a look at the UFC Vegas 36 main card and make our predictions for Saturday’s UFC event.

Derek Brunson vs Darren Till

Derek Brunson is the no. 5 ranked middleweight in the UFC. The 37-year old from Wilmington, North Carolina is a former NCAA Division II All-American wrestler who also fought for Strikeforce. Brunson joined the UFC in 2012 and has had his shares of ups and downs.

He is 6-2 in his last eight bouts and has won his last four. Overall, Brunson has a record of 22-7 with 12 knockouts and three submission wins. He is a southpaw who is 6-1 tall with a 77-inch reach.

Darren Till is the no. 7 ranked middleweight in the UFC. The 28-year old from Liverpool fought under Aspera FC, Sparta MMA, and Arena Tour MMA before joining the UFC in 2015. Till went undefeated in his first six UFC bouts and challenged for the UFC welterweight title at UFC 228. The Briton has lost three of his last four bouts.

Till has a record of 18-3 with 10 knockouts and two submission wins. He is six feet tall with a 74-inch reach and fights out of the orthodox stance

Till has always been one of the most popular fighters in the UFC and as such, he’s gotten the love of the bookmakers. However, he enters this fight after having several bouts canceled due to injury and he’s been injury-prone over the last couple of years.

Brunson meanwhile, has fought at a consistent schedule and he’s on a roll right now. He is also the bigger fighter if this fight goes to the mat, which Brunson has said he will do. The American also has more pop in his punches and is more athletic. I’m not sure why Till is favored here.

Prediction: Derek Brunson

Tom Aspinall vs Sergey Spivak

Tom Aspinall is the no. 13 ranked heavyweight in the UFC. The 38-year old from Great Manchester, England started his career with BAMMA and Cage Warriors. Aspinall joined the UFC in 2020 and is 3-0 with three stoppage wins. In his last bout, Aspinall choked out former heavyweight champion Andre Arlovski.

Aspinall has a record of 10-2 with 8 knockouts and 2 submission wins. He is 6-5 tall with a reach of 78 inches and fights out of the orthodox stance.

Sergey Spivak is a veteran who fought under World Warriors FC, Eagles FC, N1 Pro Nomad MMA, and real fight promotions The 26-year old Moldovan is the no. 13 ranked heavyweight in the UFC and 4-1 in his last five UFC bouts, defeating Aleksei Oleinik on points in his most recent bout.

Spivak is 13-2 with five knockouts and six submission wins. He is 6-3 tall with a 78-inch reach and is an orthodox fighter

This is a good matchup between two prospects who are still young in the fight game. Both also enter this contest having won three straight bouts.

Aspinall is known for his slick boxing but showed his submission game in his last fight. He is also a BJJ black belt and has decent grappling too. Spivak is primarily a grappler but we’ve seen him develop his kickboxing skills over the years.

I think this goes down to Spivak being able to take Aspinall down. If the Moldovan manages to put Aspinall on his back, he’s going to beat up the Englishman with his heavy ground and pounds game. But if Aspinall keeps this standing up, he is going to dominate Spivak with his crisp combinations. He also hits harder so don’t discount a KO here.

Prediction: Tom Aspinall

David Zawada vs Alex Morono

David Zawada fought under KSW and was a former Respect FC welterweight champion. The 31-year old German joined the UFC in 2018 but has fought only four times inside the Octagon with a 1-3 record. In his last bout, he lost via split decision to Ramazan Emeev.

Zawada is 17-6 with 11 knockouts and four submission victories. He is six feet tall with a reach of 75 inches and fights out of the orthodox stance.

Alex Morono is a former Legacy FC welterweight champion. The 31-year old from Houston, Texas is joined the UFC in 2016 and 5-2 in his last seven UFC bouts. In his most recent Octagon appearance, Morono scored a first round knockout win over Donald Cerrone.

Morono is 19-7 with six knockouts and six submission wins. He is 5-11 tall with a 72-inch reach and fights out of the orthodox stance.

Morono likes his fights to turn into slugfests and he’s beaten better strikers with his conditioning and toughness. He is also the better athlete and the more proven fighter, with more UFC bouts to his name

Zawada is a veteran who like Morono is tough and well-conditioned. He has displayed good work on the mat but most of his wins have been by KO.

Morono is very inconsistent and Zawada has been solid, despite not getting the wins all the time. I expect this to be a striking battle and on the feet, Zawada looks to have more power and cleaner punches.

It won’t be a walk in the park but I like Zawada to pull off the upset here.

Prediction: David Zawada

Modestas Bukauskas vs Khalil Rountree

Modestas Bukauskas is a former Cage Warriors light heavyweight champion. The 27-year old from Lithuania joined the UFC last year. After winning his debut against Andreas Michailidis, he has dropped his last two bouts. In his most recent appearance, Bukauskas lost via split decision to Michal Oleksiejczuk.

Bukauskas has a record of 11-4 with 8 knockouts and two submission wins. He is a switch hitter who stands 6-3 tall with a reach of 78 inches.

Khalil Rountree was a competitor at TUF 23 where he reached the final and lost to Andrew Sanchez. The 31-year old from Los Angeles, California has lost three out of his last four bouts including a unanimous decision defeat against Marcin Prachinio last January.

Rountree is 8-5 with five knockouts. He is a southpaw who stands 6-1 tall with a reach of 76 inches.

Rountree is very difficult to take down, is very athletic, and hits like a truck. He studied kickboxing in Thailand and now fights like a Muay Thai fighter.

Bukauskas is a decorated kickboxer and although he’s still young, he’s seen some tough competition in the 205-pound division. He is the better striker between these two and he’s also aggressive enough to give Rountree problems.

However, I think Bukauskas doesn’t have the gas tank to match Rountree. We’ve also seen durability issues in the past which have led to KO losses. Rountree isn’t playing around. He’ll throw bombs throughout the fight. One of those catches Bukauskas.

Prediction: Khalil Rountree

Paddy Pimblett vs Luigi Vendramini

Paddy Pimblett is the Cage Warriors star and former featherweight champion at that promotion. The 26-year old known as The Baddy will be making his UFC debut in this bout and he is just 3-2 in his last five assignments.

Pimblett has a record of 16-3 with five knockouts and seven submission victories. He is 5-10 tall with a 73-inch reach and fights out of the orthodox stance.

Luigi Vendramini fought in Brazil before joining the UFC in 2018. The 25-year old has fought just thrice inside the Octagon with two losses. In his last bout, he was defeated by Fares Ziam via decision.

Vendramini has a record of 9-2 with five knockouts and four submission wins. He is 5-8 tall with a reach of 73 inches and is an orthodox fighter.

Pimblett will be looking to fight on the mat because Vendramini has power in his punches. Once down, Pimblett will prioritize control and slowly get into a checkmate position.

Aside from punching power, Vendramini also is no slouch on the mat, which gives him more ways to win. He is also a BJJ black belt so he can find that finish when he is on the mat.

These are two young prospects who have the talent to be a contender in the UFC. But I think the difference here is that Pimblett has fought in brighter lights before. It’s going to be a fun contest on the ground. But the slicker submission artist should take this.

Prediction: Paddy Pimblett

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