UFC Fight Night 255: Edwards vs Brady Tips
Leon Edwards returns to action on home soil against Sean Brady eight months after losing his Welterweight title.
The UK fighter dropped the title to Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 in Manchester and now looks to start his journey back to the belt in London.
Here we look at some of the best bets from a card stacked with UK talent.
Tip 1 – Leon Edwards vs. Sean Brady - Fight to go the distance - Yes @ 3/5
Former champion Edwards (22-4-0) returns to face hungry contender Brady (17-1-0) as he looks to begin the journey to reclaiming his belt.
Edwards was originally scheduled to face Jack Della Maddalena on this card, but with the Australian rebooked to fight Belal Muhammad for the title in May, in stepped Brady.
The UK fighter lost his Championship at UFC 304 in Manchester last July when he was dominated over five rounds by Muhammad.
The 33-year-old blamed the card staying on a US timezone for the sluggish performance, as he failed to acclimatise to what was an early morning ringwalk.
That said, the performance from Muhammad was exceptional and ended a two-fight run as champion for Edwards and a 12-fight win streak overall.
Slick striker Edwards has made improvements in his grappling in recent years, having twice defeated former champion Kamaru Usman and former Interim Champion Colby Covington.
In Brady he will come up against another talented grappler who looks to be entering his prime.
The American is riding a two-fight win streak after submitting Kelvin Gastelum in December 2023 and an impressive unanimous decision win over Gilbert Burns last September.
Brady’s only career loss was to the aforementioned Muhammad by second round TKO in 2022 but the now 32-year-old has come back stronger since.
The question surrounding Edwards is over whether his performance in losing the belt in such an underwhelming fashion truly was a blip, or the start of a decline, particularly when coming up against heavy grapplers with relentless cardio.
Brady will bring a similar mauling style to Muhammad, while the pair are also alike in their shorter and stocky physical stature.
Four of Brady’s seven UFC wins have gone to decision, while Edwards has seen 13 of his total 17 UFC contests decided by the judges, including 10 wins.
This switch in opponent looks less than ideal for Edwards but equally Brady took this on a month's notice, a few days after becoming a father.
Both men are generally extremely durable and this one going the distance could be the way to go.
Tip 2 - Kevin Holland to win by KO, TKO or DQ @ 23/10
Kevin Holland (26-13-0) arrives in London to face veteran Gunnar Nelson (19-5-1) desperately needing a win.
Holland is on a run of 1-4 in his last five fights but drops back to Welterweight here after consecutive first round losses at Middleweight to Reiner de Ridder and Roman Dolidze
This American is one of the most active on the roster, often taking fights on short notice at both 170 and 185lbs.
The 32-year-old’s most recent defeat to de Ridder demonstrated that he lacks the strength against the bigger fighters in the 185lb weight class.
At 170lbs, Holland has proved to be better with a 4-3 record between 2022 and March 2024 with wins over Alex Oliveira (TKO R2), Tim Means (Sub R2), Santiago Ponzinibbio (TKO R3) and Michael Chiesa (R1 sub).
Defeats at Welterweight have only come to elite strikers Jack Della Maddalena (split), Stephen Thompson (TKO R4) and Michael Page (UD).
Gunnar Nelson sits at the opposite end of the activity scale to Holland having not been seen since a March 2023 submission win over Bryan Barberena, a timespan where the American has racked up seven fights.
In fact, the 36 year old has only fought three times since a 2019 headline slot against Leon Edwards in this venue, with Holland taking 22 UFC fights in the same period.
Despite his inactivity the popular veteran is on a two-fight winning streak but the evidence has shown that at 170lbs Holland can still be a threat within the top 15 of the division
Nelson is an excellent grappler but in this weight class Holland’s takedown defence should hold up and he can find the target on the feet with the Icelandic fighter’s low-hand karate stance and earn a 11th UFC win inside the distance.
Tip 3 - Jordan Vucenic by Submission @ 11/5
It’s England vs Scotland on the main card as Jordan Vucenic (13-3-0) faces Chris Duncan (12-2-0).
Vucenic is a former Cage Warriors Champion who made his UFC debut at short notice last time out when losing a unanimous decision to Guram Kutateladze.
The 29-year-old put on an impressive performance despite the defeat showing elements of his fantastic ground game and striking skills.
His wins in Cage Warriors includes dethroning Featherweight champion Morgan Charrière, who also features in this card, as well as a win and a loss to recent PFL title challenger Paul Hughes.
Duncan won his UFC contract via the Contender Series in 2022 and is currently 3-1 in the UFC with victories over Omar Morales (UD), Yanal Ashmouz (UD) and Bolaji Oki (R1 sub).
The victory over Oki last time out in Paris earned the 31-year-old a Performance of the Night bonus as he was able to lock in a Guillotine finish off his back.
The Scottish fighter is known more as a brawler and will look to push the pace here by mixing up the styles.
However, Vucenic is tactically sound and, with his last five wins coming by submission, he has proven to have that killer instinct in punishing any mistakes from his opponents and could well do so again here.
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Odds correct at time of publication but subject to change