Curtis Blaydes vs. Tom Aspinall Prediction and Odds for UFC Fight Night

The UFC is going international.

UFC heads to London this weekend with a main event featuring rising English Heavyweight Tom Aspinall. Aspinall has rolled through his first five fights in the promotion, and now draws his toughest test against Curtis Blaydes on Saturday.

The grapple-heavy Bladyes is looking to cement himself as a contender for the Heavyweight belt while Aspinall's trying to ride a meteoric rise to the top five. With talent such as Ciryl Gane, Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones, Aspinall is trying to join the group.

Here is the full list of fights from The 02 Arena in London, England. The preliminary card starts at 12 PM EST.

Odds courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook

UFC Fight Night: Aspinall vs. Blaydes Odds

• Claudio Silva (+237) vs. Nicholas Dalby (-295)
• Mandy Bohm (-140) vs. Victoria Leonardo (+115
• Jai Herbert (-290) vs. Kyle Nelson (+230)
• Muhammad Mokaev (-485) vs. Charles Johnson (+360)
• Makwan Amirkhani (+185) vs. Jonathan Pearce (-230)
• Nathaniel Wood (-545) vs. Charles Rosa (+395)
• Marc Diakiese (-325) vs. Damir Hadzovic (+255)
• Paul Craig (+135) vs. Volkan Oezdemir (-165)
• Molly McCann (-400) vs. Hannah Goldy (+305)
• Nikita Krylov (-195) vs. Alexander Gustafsson (+160)
• Paddy Pimblett (-270) vs. Jordan Leavitt (+215)
• Jack Hermansson (-110) vs. Chris Curtis (-110)
• Curtis Blaydes (+112) vs. Tom Aspinall (-135)

Curtis Blaydes vs. Tom Aspinall Prediction and Pick

Aspinall has cleared every challenge with flying colors to date, most recently in March when he forced Alexander Volkov to tap out to an armbar in the first round. However, I'm still curious to see if Aspinall is challenged deep into fights, considering he has never gone to the scorecards.

In his first five round fight, he will face Blaydes, a wrestle-heavy fighter who has overpowered the likes of Volkov in the past. He is going to prod forward and hunt for a takedown, which will open up his offense featuring nasty elbows.

It's worth noting that this is the first time in Blaydes' UFC career that he will be an underdog.

This fight has a path to become sloppy (both men lose their energy quickly and sap their power), but I see this one finishing quickly as well. While Aspinall has not been challenged late in fights, Blaydes has proven to be vulnerable to heavy hitters.

We'll see if the English fighter, who will have a massive home advantage, can find a finish like Derrick Lewis did in the above clip or Francis Ngannou did twice since 2016, but Aspinall has proven his power is something to be worried about.

My first thoughts for this fight is that Aspinall is the more complete fighter and can hold off any of Blaydes offensive grappling to grab a win.

LEAN: Aspinall (-135)