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ESPN Staff Writer- Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: "Chuck and Tito," which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.
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Special to ESPN.com- Reed Kuhn is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, and strategy and analytics consultant. He is the author of "Fightnomics: The Hidden Numbers and Science in Mixed Martial Arts," the first book to quantify drivers and performance metrics in combat sports.
For the first time in three years, the UFC returns to London as the O2 Arena takes center stage for a UFC Fight Night main event between heavyweights Tom Aspinall and Alexander Volkov (1 p.m. ET, ESPN+). With heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou out indefinitely with a knee injury, the division appears open for plenty of contenders looking to become the next title challenger.
Aspinall has had a remarkable rise up the UFC heavyweight rankings, making his debut during the COVID-19 pandemic and fighting inside of mostly empty arenas during his first four appearances in the Octagon.
He also racked up three "Performance of the Night" bonuses, but Saturday will be the toughest test of his career when he faces the 6-foot-7 Volkov.
Volkov enters Saturday's bout after scoring a unanimous decision victory over Marcin Tybura at UFC 267. The perennial heavyweight contender will look to get his name back into the title picture following a loss to former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane last June.
As Aspinall and Volkov look to make their case for a heavyweight title shot, who will come out on top?
ESPN's Brett Okamoto reached out to get a coach's perspective on this matchup between the two heavy-handed strikers in the division. ESPN's betting experts Reed Kuhn and Ian Parker added their insights for everything from the main event to some intriguing bets they like lower down the card.
Heavyweight: Alexander Volkov vs. Tom Aspinall
Eric Nicksick, Xtreme Couture coach
