UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs Till Predictions, Odds & Picks

• UFC middleweight and former welterweight title challenger Darren Till returns to action Saturday after taking more than a year off to recover from a knee injury. He takes on Derek Brunson in the main event of UFC Fight Night
• Till’s countryman Tom Aspinall takes on last-minute replacement opponent Sergey Spivak in the co-main event of this card that was original expected to take place in England
• A women’s flyweight bout between Ariane Lipski and Mandy Bohm has been rescheduled for two-weeks from now after Bohm was forced to pull out of Saturday’s fight citing an illness

UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs Till

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UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs Till – Picks & Predictions

Derek Brunson vs Darren Till – Middleweight Division

Darren Till (-180)

Tom Aspinall vs Sergey Spivak – Heavyweight Division

Tom Aspinall (-280)

Alex Perez vs Matt Schnell – Flyweight Division

Matt Schnell (N/A)

Alex Morono vs David Zawada – Welterweight Division

Alex Morono (-140)

Modestas Bukauskas vs Khalil Rountree, Jr. – Light Heavyweight Division

Modestas Bukauskas (-155)

Paddy Pimblett vs Luigi Vendramini – Lightweight Division

Luigi Vendramini (+115)

How to Watch UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs Till

Derek Brunson vs Darren Till – Middleweight Division

Derek Brunson

A member of the UFC roster since 2012, Derek Brunson has been one of those fighters always on the cusp of a title shot but who continues to fall short.

Brunson has several winning streaks to his credit but seems to struggle once he reaches the upper echelon of the UFC middleweight division.

He started his career on a two-fight winning streak before being stopped by former title challenger Yoel Romero.

From there he went on to win five straight bouts before dropping back-to-back fights to Robert Whittaker (who would go on to become champion) and former champion Anderson Silva.

Brunson would then go on to win two more in a row, including a win over former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida.

But then he would drop back-to-back fights once again to fighters in the top-5 – Ronaldo Souza and Israel Adesanya (who is now the current middleweight champion).

Brunson has rebounded yet again, however, as he now finds himself amidst a four-fight winning streak. After defeating Elias Theodorou and Ian Heinisch by decision, Brunson upset rising star Edmen Shahbazyan via TKO.

Most recently Brunson took on Kevin Holland this past March and earned a unanimous, yet rather lackluster, decision win.

Born in North Carolina, Brunson has been competing since 2010 and boasts NCAA division II wrestling credentials as well as a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Renzo Gracie.

A former pupil of Jackson’s MMA, Brunson now spends his time training with Sanford MMA. He is currently ranked as the fifth-best middleweight in the division.

A southpaw fighter, Brunson will have a 2.5-inch reach advantage over Darren Till Saturday night.

Darren “The Gorilla” Till

Darren Till is just 1-3 over his last four fights but don’t let the record fool you – Till has only come up short against the best of the best.

Joining the UFC roster as a welterweight in 2015, the then-undefeated Till quickly worked up the rankings, winning five straight fights (with a no-contest mixed in).

Following a win over former title challenger Stephen Thompson, Till was granted a shot at welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. Unfortunately for Till, he would be submitted in the second round of the UFC 228 main event.

Till fought once more at 170-pounds after the title fight loss, this time against Jorge Masvidal. Till would once again lose in the second round – this time by knockout.

In late 2019, Till moved up to the middleweight division to take on former title challenger Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244. In a very close fight, Till was eventually awarded with the split-decision victory.

His most recent fight took place last July when he fought former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. It was clear at some point in the fight Till suffered damage to his knee and he would end up losing a unanimous decision.

Since the loss to Whittaker, Till has been on the sidelines recovering from injury. He was expected to return to action in April of this year but had to pull out of his fight against Marvin Vettori due to suffering a broken collarbone.

Born in Liverpool, England, Till trains in England with Team Kaobon and also spends time in Brazil with the AStra Fight Team.

Fighting since 2013, he holds a purple belt in luta livre esportiva and is currently ranked as number-seven in the middleweight division.

He will stand one-inch shorter than Brunson and is nine-years younger than his opponent.

Tom Aspinall vs Sergey Spivak – Heavyweight Division

Tom Aspinall

Tom Aspinall will be appearing in his fourth UFC fight this Saturday night and he hopes to earn not only his fourth victory in a row, but also his fourth stoppage.

Debuting for the UFC in July 2020, Aspinall took on Jake Collier and earned a TKO victory in just 45-seconds. The win earned him a performance bonus.

He followed the win over Collier with another first-round TKO win – this time coming against Alan Baudot last October.

Aspinall most recently fought this past February, taking on former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. In a fight that would earn him his second performance bonus, Aspinall submitted the former champ with a rear-naked choke in the second round.

Born in Manchester, Aspinall has been active in mixed martial arts since 2014 and trains with his home gym of Aspinall BJJ as well as with Team Kaobon.

He holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and currently ranks just outside the top-ten of the division as number-13.

Aspinall will have a two-inch height advantage over his opponent Saturday.

Sergey “Polar Bear” Spivak

Having just fought this past June, Sergey Spivak is stepping in on short notice Saturday to replace Tom Aspinall’s original opponent: Sergei Pavlovich.

Spivak is currently enjoying a three-fight winning streak that started in 2020 with a majority decision win over Carlos Felipe.

He followed that performance with a second-round TKO victory over Jared Vanderaa this past February and, most recently, earned a unanimous decision win over Aleksei Oleinik this past June.

Since joining the UFC in 2019, Spivak has put together a promotional record of 4-2.

Born in Moldova, Spivak trains out of his home country with the MIR Production team.

He has been fighting since 2014 and is a former WWFC heavyweight champion.

Spivak is two-years younger than his opponent.

Alex Perez vs Matt Schnell – Flyweight Division

Alex Perez

Alex Perez is a man on a mission to get back into title contention in the flyweight division.

Following a three-fight winning streak  that included two stoppages and two performance bonuses over the likes of Jordan Espinosa and Jussier Formiga, Perez was granted a shot at the champion at that time: Deiveison Figueiredo.

Unfortunately for Perez, he would lose the UFC 255 bout via first-round submission. This will be his first fight in 2021.

Born in California, Perez trains out of Lemoore with Team Oyama. He has been fighting in MMA since 2011 and is currently ranked as the fourth-best flyweight in the division.

He is two years younger than his opponent but will have noticeable physical disadvantages in the fight – namely in the reach department.

Matt “Danger” Schnell

Unlike his opponent, Matt Schnell has already fought twice in 2021 – going 1-1 for the year so far.

Back in January, Schnell took on Tyson Nam and earned the split-decision win. However he would not be so fortunate in his next bout. This past May, Schnell took on Rogerio Bontorin at UFC 262 and was on the losing end of a unanimous decision.

It should be noted, however, that his bout against Bontorin was held in the bantamweight division.

The Mississippi fighter is a former American Top Team student but now spends his time training with the Combat Sports Academy as well as with AKA.

Schnell holds a black belt in karate and a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Ranked as the number-nine flyweight in the division, Schnell is a former LFA flyweight champion and has been competing since 2009.

He will stand two-inches taller than Alex Morono on Saturday and will have a significant 7.5-inch reach advantage on the feet.

Alex Morono vs David Zawada – Welterweight Division

Alex “The Great White” Morono

A member of the UFc roster since 2016, Alex Morono has had mixed success but is coming off of the biggest win of his career.

After suffering a unanimous decision loss to Anthony Pettis in late-2020, Morono stepped in as a last minute replacement for Diego Sanchez to fight Donald Cerrone this past May.

Morono earned a first-round TKO win over “Cowboy” as well as a performance of the night bonus. He is now 2-2 across his last four fights.

Born in Texas, Morono spends his time at both the Gracie Barra Woodlands gym as well as with the Fortis MMA team with head coach Sayif Saud.

Morono holds a black belt in taekwondo as well as a second-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Vinicius Magalhaes.

He has been competing since 2010 and is a former Legacy FC welterweight champion.

David “Sagat” Zawada

David Zawada has struggled across his last few outings for the UFC, going just 1-3 across his last four fights.

Zawada suffered back-to-back losses to Danny Roberts and Li Jingliang in 2018.

In 2019, Zawada impressed with a first-round submission win over Abubakar Nurmagomedov – earning him a performance bonus.

However, in his most recent fight – which took place this past January, Zawada once again found himself on the losing end – this time to Ramazan Emeev by split-decision.

The German fighter works out with coach Christian Mohr and spends time training with the UFC Gym as well as with the More Power Concepte team.

Zawada has been competing since 2010 and is a former KSW and Respect FC welterweight champion.

He will stand one-inch taller than his opponent on Saturday and will have a two-inch reach advantage.

Modestas Bukauskas vs Khalil Rountree, Jr. – Light Heavyweight Division

Modestas “The Baltic Gladiator” Bukauskas

Joining the UFC roster in 2020 riding a six-fight winning streak, Modestas Bukauskas made a statement in his promotion debut when he earned a first-round TKO win using elbow over Andreas Michailidis – earning a performance of the night bonus for his work.

Since then, however, Bukauskas has lost two straight. He suffered a first-round knockout at the hands of Jimmy Crute last October and then found himself on the losing end of a split-decision against Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC 260 this past March.

Born in Lithuania, Bukauskas spends much of his time training in England with the Gintas Combat team.

The 27-year-old has been competing since 2015. He will have a two-inch height and a 1.5-inch reach advantage over his opponent Saturday.

Khalil “The War Horse” Rountree, Jr.

Like his opponent, Khalil Rountree, Jr. currently finds himself in the midst of a two-fight losing streak.

A member of the UFC roster since 2016, Rountree has a promotional record of 4-5 with one no-contest.

Following a TKO loss to Ion Cutelaba in 2019, Rountree most recently fought Marcin Prachino this past January at UFC 257. Unfortunately for Rountree, he was defeated via unanimous decision.

A former student of Syndicate MMA, Khalil Rountree now spends his time training in Thailand with Tiger Muay Thai.

The southpaw fighter has been competing since 2010 and is four years older than his opponent this Saturday night.

He was the runner-up on the Ultimate Fighter reality tournament in 2016.

Paddy Pimblett vs Luigi Vendramini – Lightweight Division

Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett

Currently riding a two-fight winning streak with the Cage Warrior promotion, UK fighter Paddy Pimblett will make his UFC debut Saturday.

Following back-to-back losses, Pimblett rebounded with a first-round TKO victory in 2020 and then a first-round submission win in early 2021.

Born in Liverpool, Pimblett currently spends his time training with the Next Generation Liverpool MMA team.

He is one year older than his opponent and will stand two-inches taller when the two are in the octagon.

Luigi “The Italian Stallion” Vendramini

Luigi Vendramini has three UFC fights under his belt but his record with the promotion sits at just 1-2.

He lost his debut fight (which was held at welterweight) in 2018 via KO.

Vendramini returned to the lightweight division after that loss and earned his first UFC victory in his next fight: a first-round TKO over Jessin Ayari.

His most recent fight took place this past June at UFC 263 against Fares Ziam. Unfortunately for Vendramini, he was on the losing end of a majority decision.

Born in Brazil, Vendramini has been competing since 2016 and holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

He splits his career training with the Constrictor Team, Factory X, and Team Alpha Male.