UFC Fight Night 255 London Predictions: Leon Edwards targets redemption at the O2

UFC Fight Night 255 comes to the O2 Arena in London on Saturday, March 22. The event features an action-packed card full of big names and British interest. The headline attraction is Birmingham’s former UFC Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards, who meets Sean Brady. TNT Sports will broadcast the event live.

Here are my UFC Fight Night 255 predictions as big-time MMA returns to the capital.

UFC Fight Night 255 Odds

Casting an eye over the main event, Edwards is priced up at 5/4 to win at the O2. Brady is the favourite at 8/13. The draw is priced at 50/1.

UFC Fight Night 255 Preview

This is a hum-dinger of a card for the Fight Night format. Former world champions occupy the top-two bouts with strong support underneath. No less than 10 British fighters will fight on the card with a further two from the Republic of Ireland. Saturday features a great mix of the best fighters domestically and worldwide.

The success of Edwards and Manchester’s UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall has led to a boom period for Britain in the company. UFC has been visiting frequently and packing out arenas. Edwards finds himself headlining a UK card for the third time in his last four fights.

For the first time in two-and-a-half years, ‘Rocky’ comes into a fight without the UFC Welterweight title around his waist. Edwards became the second Brit in history to win a UFC belt when he stunned the iconic Kamaru Usman with a spectacular head-kick in the last minute off their fight at UFC 278.

Edwards proved it was far from a lucky shot in their rematch. The Birmingham boy outpointed ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ at the O2 to retain the championship. A dominant win over MMA’s ultimate heel, Colby Covington, fortified Edwards’ position at the top of the tree. Or so he thought.

Edwards’ next challenger was a familiar face. A 2021 clash with Belal Muhammad had ended in a No Contest, when an accidental eye-poke left the Chicago fighter unable to continue. Neither man had lost since and a rematch was set for the title at The Co-op Live Arena in Manchester.

Muhammad dominated the champion, who offered up a strangely-subdued performance. ‘Remember The Name’ was able to back ‘Rocky’ up against the cage and land takedowns throughout the night. After winning the UFC strap in the most spectacular fashion, Edwards lost the title in far tamer fashion.

Edwards climbs back on the horse against fifth-ranked welterweight Sean Brady. The Philadelphia boxer has a 17-1 record with that sole defeat coming against Muhammad. Wins over Kelvin Gastelum and Gilbert Burns in his last two outings have set Brady up for this big headline fight.

Elsewhere on the card you will find plenty of other big names. The standout is surely former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jan Blachowicz. The Polish star goes looking for his first win since an injury TKO over Aleksandar Rakic in May 2022.

Given Rakic’s sudden withdrawal, when an innocuous step backwards had him go down in agony, one has to go back even further to find Blachowicz’s last decisive win. That would be his UFC Light Heavyweight title defence against Israel Adesanya, who he beat on points in March 2021. 

Blachowicz is 0-1-1 in his last two outings, having secured a draw against Magomed Ankalaev, who many thought had done enough to win. The defeat came in his latest outing, a decision loss to Alex Pereira. At the age of 42 and having fought almost every major fighter at 205lb, one wonders where Blachowicz is heading.

Right now the answer is: into a cage with the in-form Carlos Ulberg. ‘Black Jag’ has not lost a fight since his UFC debut in 2021. The New Zealander has seven victories since, including five finishes. Ulberg has racked up three bonuses and has tied the Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell for the fourth-longest win streak in light heavyweight history.

A decision victory over former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir propelled Ulberg into this crack at the ex-kingpin. This light heavyweight clash has all the hallmarks of a crossroads fight. Two fighters pass each other, one descending while the other ascends. But will the result comply with the narrative?

Five-time Performance of the Night winner Gunnar Nelson clashes with Kevin Holland in a battle of the veterans. Nelson is looking to extend his winning run to three while Holland is on a run of four losses in his last five outings.

Another point of difference between the pair is their relative activity. Holland last fought two months ago and has never fought less than three times in a calendar year in his entire career. Meanwhile, Nelson fights for the first time since March 2023. He has not fought twice in a year since 2019 and has not strung three outings together in a single calendar annum in over a decade.

It will be fascinating to see whether Holland’s cage-fresh fitness can overcome Nelson’s better form on fight night.

The pick of the rest of the bunch is an outing for the popular Scouser, Molly McCann. Like Edwards, ‘Meatball’ Molly was beaten in Manchester last time out. McCann dropped a points decision to Bruna Brasil at the Co-op.

It was a comedown for the 34-year-old, who had impressed with a submission win over Diana Belbita in her strawweight debut three months before. That victory had snapped a two-fight losing streak that had led some to become sceptical of the Liverpudlian.

McCann’s greatest gift is also her biggest curse. Her popularity leads the UFC to put her in prominent positions, therefore leaving her every move open to scrutiny. The detractors go quiet when ‘Meatball’ wins but are cacophonous when she loses.

She faces a very tough task against Alexia Thainara, an 11-1 Brazilian making her UFC debut. Thainara earned this chance after impressing with a victory over Rose Conceicao on Dana White’s Contender Series. She starts as the favourite against McCann.

UFC Fight Night 255 Full Card

Main Card 

Leon Edwards vs Sean Brady

Jan Blachowicz vs Carlos Ulberg

Gunnar Nelson vs Kevin Holland 

Molly McCann vs Alexia Thainara 

Jordan Vucenic vs Chris Duncan 

Nathaniel Wood vs Morgan Charriere 

Preliminary Card 

Jai Herbert vs Chris Padilla 

Lone'er Kavanagh vs Felipe Dos Santos 

Marcin Tybura vs Mick Parkin 

Christian Leroy Duncan vs Andrey Pulyaev 

Shauna Bannon vs Puja Tomar 

Nathan Fletcher vs Caolan Loughran 

Guram Kutateladze vs Kaue Fernandes

UFC Fight Night 255 Predictions

This is a huge and bountiful card, but for my predictions I am going to stay within the bounds of the fights I’ve previewed in detail for you.

Edwards is the underdog against Brady and you can see why. But I feel like ‘Rocky’ will pull off another shock on home soil. Edwards is keenly aware he did not push the pace enough against Muhammad. He makes up for that here and wins at 5/4.

Blachowicz has given the UFC some great fights in recent years. His scrap with Ulberg could well be another, but I don’t think he wins it. I’m backing Ulberg by knockout at 15/8. The New Zealander is too young, too fresh and too strong.

Holland can’t buy a win at this stage but against Nelson, he won’t have to. Gunnar is 36 now and barely fights. Holland is perhaps a little shop-worn but he is in fine shape if his form is less glistening. I still think he has enough to win at 1/1.

McCann has one hell of a task ahead of her. But she often shines brightest when everyone is writing her off. I think the ‘Meatball’ will cook in London. McCann to win at 7/4.

You can find all our latest UFC betting tips and analysis at our Betfred Insights UFC page.