UFC Fight Night 218 Odds: Main Card, Prelims, Analysis and Predictions

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns at the start of February with a massive Fight Night event in Las Vegas. Derrick Lewis, one of the living legends of the organization, will face Serghei Spivak in a massive heavyweight bout in the main event. But before that, we selected and analyzed a few of the other incredible matches from the full fight card of UFC Fight Night.

UFC Fight Night 218 Full Card Predictions

Junyong Park vs Denis Tiuliulin

Junyong Park

Junyong Park joined the Dana White league in 2019. The 31-year-old fighter from South Korea has had seven fights in the UFC. He has ten wins (three by knockout) and five losses in various mixed martial arts championships.

In May 2022, Park defeated Eric Anders of the United States and a few months later over American Joseph Holmes. The last defeat happened in October 2021. Then “The Iron Turtle” lost to the Brazilian Gregory Rodriguez by knockout.

Denis Tiuliulin

Denis Tiuliulin not so long ago moved from the world's strongest league in mixed martial arts. The 34-year-old Muscovite has only had two fights in the UFC so far. In his debut in March 2022, he lost to compatriot Aliaskhab Khizriev (submission). However, a few months later he won a landslide victory over the American Jamie Pickett by knockout. Tiuliulin has ten wins (nine by knockout) and six losses in MMA.

Park vs Tiuliulin Prediction

Analysts of bookmakers consider Park the clear favorite of the upcoming fight. We agree with them as a whole. However, in this case, not everything is so clear. The upcoming fight should be intriguing. The Korean is famous for his versatility and calm conduct of fights. The Russian is a great puncher. He is also quite large for this weight class (his height is 185 cm). Denis is seven centimeters taller than Junyong. Tiuliulin, due to his power and deadly punch, can KO the Korean at any second.

Da Woon Jung vs Devin Clark

Da Woon Jung Preview

Da Woon is a 25-year-old fighter from South Korea. He started his professional career in 2015. After Jung became the champion of the Asian promotion HEAT and went on a series of 5 knockout wins in a row, he was noticed by UFC matchmakers who offered him a contract.

The debut of the Korean in the strongest league in the world took place in 2019 in a duel against Aliaskhab Khizriev, whom he strangled in the 3rd round. In total, Jung 15 fights in his career – 11 wins, 3 defeats, and one Draw.

Jung prefers to work on the stand. He aggressively presses the opponent, throwing powerful and accurate single shots. I will note his good cardio. He can work without slowing down throughout the fight.

Devin Clark Preview

Devin Clark is a fairly experienced fighter who has been in the UFC for six years. In his fights, he actively uses wrestling skills, but he knows how to fight in the stance. He spent 20 fights in MMA, in which he won 13 times and suffered seven defeats.

It is difficult for the American to deal with elite fighters, but he is able to deal with middle-class fighters quite tolerably. He is now 32 years old and for a couple of years, he can still fight at a high level.

Da Woon vs Clark Prediction

The Korean will be able to kill Clark in the standing position, alternating between distance work and clinch fighting, gaining points on this. In addition, we must not forget that Clark is not particularly skilled in any aspect of fighting, and Jung has incredible knockout power.

Marcin Tybura vs Blagoy Ivanov

Marcin Tybura Preview

Marcin Tybura is much more experienced because he started his career much earlier and managed to take part in various organizations. He ended up in the UFC in 2016, and three years later he was very close to being fired, as there were a lot of defeats. But the Pole was able to restart his career, which surprised many.

More recently, Tybura had a winning streak of four fights, until he had to part with her after a duel with Alexander Volkov. Absolutely, in that battle, Marchin could not do anything. In total, the 36-year-old Polish fighter has 22 wins and seven losses.

Blagoy Ivanov Preview

Bulgarian Blagoy Ivanov is 36 years old, he was out of the game for two years, and only in 2022, he decided to return. Behind this fighter 19 victories and four defeats. He became the champion of the PFL and WSOF.

In the UFC, the Bulgarian fighter's career is not going well. In six fights, three wins and three losses. In the last three fights, he lost by split decisions to Derrick Lewis and Augusto Sakai and then beat Marcos Rogerio de Lima via Unanimous Decision in May 2022. Ivanov is quite difficult to finish, only once in his career he suffered an early defeat.

Tybura vs Ivanov Prediction

This will be a long battle – probably all three rounds and it will be decided by the judges. Both fighters have KO power but are rather slow and they do not do too much work. They are also very hard to knock out. Most of their fights end with decisions and we expect a full 3-rounder here.

Ji Yeon Kim vs Mandy Bohm

Ji Yeon Kim Preview

Ji Yeon is a 33-year-old sportswoman from Korea. She was in the strongest league in the world in June 2017 in a duel against Lucy Pudilova, whom she lost by unanimous decision. In total, the Korean woman had 9 fights in the UFC: 3 won, and 6 lost.

Kim's last fight was in July 2022. Her opponent was Joselyn Edwards. Ji Yeon lost by split decision. Ji Yong is a versatile athlete. In the stand, she relies on the background in boxing: she skillfully works on the floors, and constantly moves and feints. On the ground, Kim demonstrates good skills in BJJ: she can sweep an opponent in time and get to his feet or perform a submission.

Mandy Bohm Preview

Mandy is a 33-year-old sportswoman from Germany. She started her professional career in 2014. Bom spent most of her performances in the European promotion GMC. There she got 5 victories and then moved overseas to the USA.

In May 2019, Bohm won the women's flyweight title in the TKO promotion. The German did not defend the belt and moved to Bellator, where in October 2020 she defeated Griet Ihout by unanimous decision.

In September 2021, Mandy made her UFC debut as an undefeated athlete. In her first fight in the promotion, she lost to Ariana Lipsky via unanimous decision.

Bohm last fought in July 2022. Her opponent was Victoria Leonardo. Bohm lost by unanimous decision.

Mandy is a versatile fighter with a good base in boxing and wrestling. In the standing position, she throws good combinations, moves well and controls the distance, competently cuts corners when attacking.

Kim vs Bohm Prediction

Faced with aggressive standing pressure, Kim tries to fight back. But because of the mediocre striking she has, she quickly takes a lot of damage and retreats. Bohm has good boxing and at a distance, she will seriously shoot down the Korean woman who has no defense at all. I doubt that Kim will dominate the fight. When Ji Yeon gets tired, and she gets tired early, she openly throws herself at her feet, which makes her translations easy to counter.

Tatsuro Taira vs Jesus Aguilar

Tatsuro Taira Preview

Tatsuro is a 23-year-old fighter from Japan. He started his professional career in 2018 and spent most of his performances in the Shooto League, where he became the champion in 2021. Bright prospect was noticed by UFC matchmakers and offered him to move to the strongest promotion in the world.

Tatsuro accepted the offer and made his debut in Dana White's organization in May 2022 against Carlos Candelario, whom he defeated by unanimous decision. Tatsuro's last fight was in October 2022. His opponent was CJ Vergara. Taira won by submission in the 2nd round.

Tatsuro is a versatile fighter. He has good striking technique. In the standing position, he throws out fast combinations and controls the distance due to a good footwork. Taira also demonstrates a good level of grappling. He effectively takes opponents to the ground and quickly takes a comfortable position to enter the submission.

Jesus Aguilar Preview

Jesus is a 26-year-old fighter from Mexico. He started his professional career in 2015. Aguilar spent most of his performances in the regional Latin American leagues, where he scored a record of 6-1.

In August 2022, he came to Dana White's Contender Series show, where he choked Erisson Ferreira in the 3rd round and received a contract with the UFC. This was Jesus' last performance.

Jesus prefers to work on the ground. He is an experienced wrestler with good BJJ skills. He delivers effective takedowns, has tenacious control and is good at positional combat. He often catches opponents on mistakes, thanks to which he won 6 out of 8 victories by submission.

It is not known how the Mexican will perform at a high level. He doesn't have the most advanced punching technique.

Taira vs Aguilar Prediction

This duel of bright finishers should not drag on. Taira will dominate in the standing position. He will aggressively break his opponent with short but accurate combinations. So he will make Jesus fuss and make mistakes. The Mexican, trying to get out of the pressure of Tatsuro, will run into punches over and over again and will be in danger of missing a takedown.

But if Aguilar manages to start a fight in a clinch and then transfer the fight to the ground floor and take an advantageous position there, then he, softening the opponent with a ground and pound, will look for an opportunity for submission.