Till and Held Fast Finishers at Sweden UFC

The second of our previews for the upcoming preliminary bouts at UFC Fight Night 109 takes a detailed look at the Fight Pass Prelims. When you’re finished here, make sure to read over our betting strategy for the main event and all other betting guides for the upcoming UFC event in Sweden.

Darren Till vs. Jessin Ayari

Jessin Ayari challenges the undefeated Darren Till in the UFC Fight Pass Prelims in the upcoming UFC Fight Night 109 event in Stockholm, Sweden.

Darren Till
Record: 13-0-1
Height: 6’0″ (183cm)
Reach: 75.0″ (191cm)
Gym: Astra Fight Team

A shoulder injury has forced Darren Till to sit out from the sport he loves most for nearly eighteen months. He’ll return to action against in the primarily European-filled event and look to continue his (almost) perfect run as a professional mixed martial artist.

Till has an extensive background in Muay Thai and incorporates the art of eight limbs into his fights inside the octagon. We witnessed the brutality of his elbows when Till finished Wendell Oliveira back at UFC Fight Night 67.

He was on the way to victory against Nicolas Dalby just five months later until he injured his shoulder and gave up a 10-8 round in the third and final round that allowed Nicolas Dalby to snatch a majority draw decision.

Till says that he has constantly been thinking about his comeback and is “beasting everyone at the gym.”

Jessin Ayari
Record: 16-3
Height: 6’0″ (183cm)
Reach: 73.5″ (187cm)
Gym: Hammers Team

Jessin Ayari is currently enjoying a seven-fight win streak which stretched into the UFC when he was victorious against Jim Wallhead at UFC Fight Night 93. Ayari is a proven finisher, having submitted eight opponents in his sixteen victories.

The Breakdown

Darren Till will need to fight off the infamous ‘ring-rust’ and overcome the nervousness of waiting on the sidelines for eighteen months. I am satisfied that he will do so rather quickly and immediately establish himself and his dangerous striking in the octagon against Jessin Ayari.

While Ayari has looked good and could be very good one day too, this one could be over fairly quickly as Darren Till puts in an explosive performance to put himself back on the radar of UFC fans around the world.

Betting Strategy

Darren Till enters this one as a 1.30Bet €100 to win €1303/10Bet £100 to win £130-333Bet $100 to win $1300.30Bet HK$100 to win HK$130-3.33Bet Rp100 to win Rp1300.3000Bet RM100 to win RM130  favourite, which is too short for my liking. I have faith that he can get Jessin Ayari out of the cage by the fifteen minutes are up so I’ll be taking the under 2.5 rounds selection at 2.40Bet €100 to win €2407/5Bet £100 to win £240+140Bet $100 to win $2401.40Bet HK$100 to win HK$2401.40Bet Rp100 to win Rp240-0.7143Bet RM100 to win RM240 .

Odds: 2.40Bet €100 to win €2407/5Bet £100 to win £240+140Bet $100 to win $2401.40Bet HK$100 to win HK$2401.40Bet Rp100 to win Rp240-0.7143Bet RM100 to win RM240  –  Bet365

Marcin Held vs. Damir Hadzovic

Marcin Held
Record: 22-6
Height: 5’9″ (176cm)
Reach:71.0″ (180cm)
Gym: Bastion Tychy

I remember how excited I was when Marcin Held signed with the UFC in August 2016. A unique grappler with plenty of weapons in his submission game, he was surely going to cause trouble. Well, his time in the promotion has started off rather poorly with back-to-back losses to Diego Sanchez and Joe Lauzon – tough competition, though.

The split decision loss to Joe Lauzon was a strange one and Joe announced that he thought Held won the fight shortly afterwards. Put that aside, and you wonder how Held has gone from a co-main event against Diego Sanchez to the very first fight on the card at UFC Fight Night 109.

Damir Hadzovic
Record: 10-3
Height: 6’0″ (183cm)
Reach: 70.0″ (178cm)
Gym: Fightcenter Esbjerg

‘The Bosnian Bomber’ Damir Hadzovic, has a super tough test in front of him this weekend in Sweden. Hadzovic’s six-fight win streak came to an end in his UFC debut back in April last year at the hands of a brutal Mairbek Taisumov uppercut.

The Breakdown

Damir Hadzovic is a major step down in competition for Marcin Held. It’s pretty obvious that the UFC are giving Held one final chance here to put on an impressive display and earn his right to stay in the UFC.

Hadzovic has some heavy hands and is able to put opponents away, but I can’t see Held being tagged too often by his opponent in this one.

If, and when, this one gets to the mat I’d expect Marcin Held to aggressively pursue a submission and get Hadzovic out of there as soon as possible.

Betting Strategy

In an almost identical circumstance to the Darren Till vs. Jessin Ayari fight, Marcin Held enters this one as a 1.30Bet €100 to win €1303/10Bet £100 to win £130-333Bet $100 to win $1300.30Bet HK$100 to win HK$130-3.33Bet Rp100 to win Rp1300.3000Bet RM100 to win RM130  favourite. I could play with the idea of putting this into a parlay, or even taking it straight. I’d rather maximise our long-term profits by selecting the under 2.5 rounds bet again in the hope that Marcin Held realises a decision victory here isn’t all that impressive.

Odds: 2.00Bet €100 to win €2001/1Bet £100 to win £200+100Bet $100 to win $2001.00Bet HK$100 to win HK$2001.00Bet Rp100 to win Rp2001.0000Bet RM100 to win RM200  –  Bet365

Best Bets

Darren Till v Jessin Ayari
Total Rounds – Under 2.5
Sunday 28th May, 16:30 GMT
Odds: 2.40Bet €100 to win €2407/5Bet £100 to win £240+140Bet $100 to win $2401.40Bet HK$100 to win HK$2401.40Bet Rp100 to win Rp240-0.7143Bet RM100 to win RM240  –  Bet365

Marcin Held vs. Damir Hadzovic
Total Rounds – Under 2.5
Sunday 28th May, 16:00 GMT
Odds: 2.00Bet €100 to win €2001/1Bet £100 to win £200+100Bet $100 to win $2001.00Bet HK$100 to win HK$2001.00Bet Rp100 to win Rp2001.0000Bet RM100 to win RM200  –  Bet365