Dana White’s MMA promotion is set to return to Manchester for the first time in eight years this weekend.
Co-headliners Leon Edwards and Tom Aspinall are getting the lion’s share of attention as they prepare to defend their respective belts at UFC 304 on Saturday night.
However, there’s a stacked undercard full of talented British fighters, including Nathaniel Wood and ‘Meatball’ Molly McCann, that deserves some love too
Join LowKickMMA as we break down five preliminary bouts and the UFC odds before offering you an official prediction on how they will all play out.
Modestas Bukauskas vs Marcin Prachnio
Bukauskas being a -150 favorite doesn’t really sit well with us.
It’ll be a competitive fight with Prachnio, who is the +125 underdog despite having a much more impressive record, which includes a win over Khalil Rountree Jr.
The American infamously destroyed Bukauskas’ knee when they fought, but the London-based Lithuanian has done well to get back to full fitness and earn a second shot in the UFC.
Sadly, he’s a bit too hittable to ever mount a title challenge and we are backing him to lose in front of his home crowd when he takes on Prachnio this weekend.
Sam Patterson vs Kiefer Crosbie
Once again, we think the odds are slightly off for this fight.
Patterson is the favorite, and we are backing him to win but to only get -333 on a 1-1 UFC fighter who was knocked out in his promotion debut is a bit wild.
However, he is a level above Crosbie and will ultimately prove that to be true.
The +250 underdog won’t go down easy. He’ll be tough, durable and maybe go the distance before slumping to his second consecutive UFC defeat against Patterson.
Mick Parkin vs ?ukasz Brzeski
Parkin is one of our surest picks of the entire UFC 304 fight card.
Tom Aspinall’s sparring partner hasn’t set the world alight since joining the UFC, but he’s picked up three wins and done so relatively easily.
The -200 favorite should really be advancing towards the rankings. For some reason, he’s facing an opponent we’d consider a drop-down in level in his fourth Octagon outing.
With a 1-3 UFC record, Brzeski finds himself in a position where he is being used to launch a potential new star, but anything can happen in heavyweight MMA and that’s why he’s priced at +170.
Molly McCann vs Bruna Brasil
McCann appears to have found her fighting home at strawweight.
‘Meatball’ put on one of her career-best performances in her divisional debut and one look at her social media tells you she’s been training hard for UFC 304.
The shredded scouser is -300 to get the job done and we can’t see her clash with Brasil going any other way. That’s not to say that the -240 is a bad MMA fighter.
McCann is just better, and it will ultimately show when they meet.
Nathaniel Wood vs Daniel Pineda
Wood is one of the biggest favorites on the card at -500.
We think it’s because he’s much slicker than his opponent, Pineda, who has had an exciting four-fight run in the UFC but hasn’t shown he’s quite on the level of ‘The Prospect’.
Some may fancy him pulling off an upset at +380. Not us. Wood is capable of making a run at the featherweight ranking and will show that in Manchester.
You may need to decide if he’ll get it done by finish or decision to get worthwhile odds out of backing him. Maybe it’s best to just add Wood to a parlay like us.