UFC announce the finalised line up for UFC Fight Night 37 - Kingdom MMA review the Main Card
by Ben Heather @benheather
With the tickets for UFC Fight Night 37 now on sale to fight club members and those who have signed up to the UFC Newsletter it has been announced that the line up for the event has been finalised.
UFC Fight Night 37 marks the return to the UK of the UFC and its first show in Europe of 2014. The fight card has been set at 10 fights and will consist of a 4 fight main card and 6 prelim fights.
Currently the event is not due to be scheduled on BT Sports in the UK as this event is a UFC Fight Pass Event and so not on TV in the US. So today Kingdom MMA spoke to Simon Head (@simonhead), Digital Producer of UFC for BT sports to see what the latest news was regarding the event being shown on tv and he had the following to say.
"At the moment all we can confirm are the events on our schedule page here. If and when other events are added, they'll be added to this page. If UFC London is one of them, obviously we'll make an announcement."In my opinion BT Sports have already proved to be a great success for the UFC in the UK and I believe they will do anything they possibly can to show this event live on BT Sports on March 8th. If you think back the first event which was shown exclusively on Fight Pass was UFC Singapore and BT Sport were able to find a resolution and show the event on tape delay in the UK. In all honesty it was never going to be shown live at the time due to the content at 11am so this was a great result for the UK fans.
Kingdom MMA will now take a look at the main card and discuss what is on the line in each match up.
Omari Akhmedov vs Gunnar Nelson
Akhmedov (12-1 MMA 1-0 UFC) debuted for the UFC last year in Brazil putting on a real show for the fans and won by knocking out Thiago Perpetuo in the first round to pick up the bonus for the fight of the night. Not a bad way to start your career in the UFC but now he will be facing the toughest opponent of his career in Icelandic fighter Gunnar Nelson (11-0-1 MMA 2-0 UFC).Nelson will come in to the fight as the crowd favourite having fought 10 out of the 12 fights in his career in either the UK or Ireland. I predict Nelson will attempt to get the fight to ground as soon as possible and showcase his BJJ skills en route to a submission victory. My only concern with Nelson is the fact it will be over a year since his last fight when he walks in to the Octagon in March so we will have to see if he can pick up where he left off and keep his undefeated record.
Ian McCall vs Brad Pickett
Pickett (23-8 MMA 3-3 UFC) has to be one of the best MMA fighters to watch. He comes in to fights, stands his ground and is happy to put it all on the line and trade blows in the centre of the Octagon. Yes his UFC record isn't the best but look at who he has fought. His losses have come against the now champion of the bantamweight division Renan Barao and former title contenders Eddie Wineland and Michael McDonald. It's not like he has lost to chumps, these guys are the best of the elite fighters at bantamweight which led Pickett to drop down to flyweight where he will meet Ian McCall (12-4-1 MMA 1-2-1 UFC) in London for his flyweight debut.Ian McCall has always been a flyweight contender ever since the UFC introduced the division in March 2012. He took Demetrious Johnson to a draw when they first fought in the division and in the final round of that fight looked like he might be able to stop Johnson however couldn't and lost the rematch. Now he is looking forard to welcoming Pickett to the division. It will be an explosive fight and a real test to see where Pickett ranks in the division. After all Brad Pickett is one of only two men to have a win over the champ Demetrious Johnson so a win against McCall could push him all the way to finally getting that UFC title shot he craves so bad.
It will certainly be a great fight for the fans so don't blink because as always I expect Brad Pickett to try and finish this fight as early as possible.
Melvin Guillard vs #13 Michael Johnson
This fight was originally meant to be the rematch between Melvin Guillard (31-12-2-2 MMA 12-8-1 UFC) and Ross Pearson following the no contest ruling to there fight back in October. However last week Ross Pearson had to be pulled out of this fight due to a knee injury. This came as a big disappointment to the fans. However, I for one am very happy about the match up we will now see as the co main event of UFC Fight Night 37.Michael Johnson (14-8 MMA 6-4 UFC) has stepped in to replace the injured Pearson and I can't think of a better replacement (that realistically) could have taken this fight. Johnson has been on a tear of late defeating Joe Lauzon in his hometown and then following that up at UFC 168 by knocking out Gleison Tibau. Johnson is similar to Pearson is some respect in that he loves to keep the fight on its feet and will happily stand and bang with Guillard who is also known for this in his fights.
I expect this fight to be up there in the fight of the night category once all is said and done. It will be either this fight or the previous McCall vs Pickett fight that takes home the bonus money but these fighters will certainly put on a show for the fans.
Main Event: #1 Alexander Gustafsson vs #11 Jimi Manuwa
This has all the attributes of a great fight, both guys have proven knock out power and will be coming to make a statement. This is without doubt the biggest fight in Jimi's life. Lets face it though, I can't think of a better way to do it. Manuwa (14-0 MMA 3-0 UFC) will be headlining his first UFC event in his hometown of London in front of a packed crowd, trying to keep his undefeated record intact against the guy who many say deserves to be the champ now. If dreams come true, this has to be up there with the best dream Manuwa could have predicted. It will certainly be a step up in competition for him but a win will propell him to the very elite level of the division and not far from a title shot.For Gustafsson (15-2 MMA 7-2 UFC), he will be coming in to this fight with everything to lose against a very strong opponent but the prize for risking it is that rematch he desires so badly with Jon Jones. Although he is a european fan favourite he will be walking in to the Manuwa's home town and will not have the fans on his side for this fight.
If the fight stays standing then I predict somebody will be getting knocked out, however Alexander Gustafsson just became the first man to take down Jon Jones and I see him having a lot easier job of getting Manuwa down. If he does, he will certainly have the advantage in the fight. However, it was rumoured that Manuwa may be training with Daniel Cormier for part of this fight camp so we will have to wait and see what happens on fight night.
The full card is as follows
Main Card
Alexander Gustafsson vs Jimi Manuwa
Melvin Guillard vs Michael Johnson
Ian McCall vs Brad Pickett
Omari Akhmedov vs Gunnar Nelson
Prelims
Cyrille Diabate vs Ilir Latifi
Luke Barnatt vs Mats Nilsson
Brad Scott vs Claudio Henrique da Silva
Roland Delorme vs Davey Grant
Igor Araujo vs Danny Mitchell
Louis Gaudinot vs Phil Harris
That marks the end of my preview of the main card for UFC Fight Night 37. Do you agree with my comments? Please comment below with your thoughts.
Tickets are on sale now for this event at www.ticketmaster.co.uk
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