UFC London predictions: Tom Aspinall, Alexander Volkanovski and Jorge Masvidal make picks for Movsar Evloev vs Lerone Murphy

Movsar Evloev battles Lerone Murphy in the main event of UFC London — and MMA’s biggest stars are torn on the outcome.

The headliner is acting as a title eliminator in the featherweight division, with the winner almost guaranteed to get a shot at Alexander Volkanovski‘s throne next.

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Both men have perfect records in Dana White‘s promotion and combine for the most wins in a matchup between fighters in UFC history.

Briton Murphy scored a viral spinning back elbow knockout in his last fight against Aaron Pico seven months ago, while his Russian opponent hasn’t fought since a unanimous decision win over Aljamain Sterling in December 2024.

Evloev’s superior ground game has put him as the favourite among oddsmakers, and although several UFC stars predict the 32-year-old to come out victorious in London, others argue differently.

talkSPORT.com has identified the predictions of the most prominent names in the sport to see who they are backing to triumph in the main event bout.

Who is backing Movsar Evloev?

Alexander Volkanovski

Volkanovski is the UFC featherweight champion and will have a close eye on the UFC London headliner, as he’ll likely be facing the winner next.

The Australian was meant to be in London for fight night, but visa issues prevented ‘The Great’ from travelling.

“Lerone Murphy’s got the fight IQ, can he get it done? I think he can,” Volkanovski explained on his YouTube channel.

“But I think I’ll have to lean towards Movsar, because you’ve seen with Lerone Murphy, he’s probably not as powerful when it comes to the wrestling.

“Pico was able to control him reasonably easy, so I’m guessing Movsar is going to try and take advantage of that, and he’ll just spam it and do it all day.

“Lerone Murphy wouldn’t have the scrambling ability like me, so I think he’ll be held on the ground.

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“Even if he gets up, is he going to be able to do enough damage before being taken down again?

“So I feel like it will be a Movsar win and that’s who we’ll be facing most likely.”

Jorge Masvidal

“[These] are two of my favourites at featherweight,” UFC legend Masvidal said on his YouTube channel.

“Movsar is a longtime friend and teammate, so I’m going to be biased and roll with my boy Movsar.

“He’s just quick sand and a pool of energy coming at you.”

Sean Brady

UFC welterweight Brady is the last person to win a main event fight in London and the American is backing another victory for the away fighter this weekend.

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“I’m picking Movsar,” Brady explained on The BradyBagz Show.

“If you look at Lerone, he is a good fighter, but even in that one fight with Aaron Pico, Pico was able to get him down two times within the first round before a finish happened.

“If he can get [Murphy] down twice in one round within three minutes, what do you think Movsar is going to be able to do with him?”

Who is backing Lerone Murphy?

Tom Aspinall

“I think Lerone Murphy [by] decision,” the UFC heavyweight champion said on social media.

Aspinall is also predicting Michael ‘Venom’ Page and Luke Riley to come out victorious on the main card of UFC London.

Aljamain Sterling

Sterling, a former UFC bantamweight champion, is the last person to fight Evloev in the UFC.

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UFC London card

Main card

• MAIN EVENT: Movsar Evloev vs Lerone Murphy – Featherweight
• CO-MAIN EVENT: Luke Riley vs Michael Aswell – Featherweight
• Michael Page vs Sam Patterson – Welterweight
• Iwo Baraniewski vs Austen Lane – Light Heavyweight
• Roman Dolidze vs Christian Leroy Duncan – Middleweight
• Kurtis Campbell vs Danny Silva – Featherweight

Prelims

• Mason Jones vs Axel Sola – Lightweight
• Nathaniel Wood vs Losene Keita – Featherweight
• Louie Sutherland vs Brando Pericic – Heavyweight
• Mantas Kondratavicius vs Antonio Trocoli – Middleweight
• Mario Pinto vs Felipe Franco – Heavyweight
• Shem Rock vs Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady – Lightweight
• Shanelle Dyer vs Ravena Oliveira – Women’s Strawweight

But the American believes Murphy will get the upset.

“It’s a really tough one to call, but I feel like Lerone may be the frontrunner for this,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel.

“For me, it’s hard to really say, but I lean towards Murphy in getting the upset.”

Kamaru Usman

“If I’m throwing bread out there, I’m putting that hundo on Murphy,” former UFC welterweight champion Usman said on the Pound 4 Pound podcast with Henry Cejudo.

For ticket information to see the event live, read our article on UFC Fight Night London tickets.

UFC Schedule

For all the upcoming fights and results this year, check out talkSPORT.com’s UFC schedule.