UFC Fight Night 204 predictions: Tom Aspinall or Alexander Volkov in London?

	Volkov vs. Aspinall	Allen vs. Hooker	Pimblett vs. Vargas	Nelson vs. Sato	Carolina vs. McCann	Herbert vs. Topuria
MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 41-19	Aspinall (72%)	Allen (64%)	Pimblett (91%)	Nelson (84%)	McCann (70%)	Topuria (92%)
Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 41-19 2018 Champion	Volkov	Hooker	Pimblett	Nelson	Carolina	Topuria
Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 39-21	Aspinall	Hooker	Pimblett	Nelson	Carolina	Topuria
Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 39-21	Aspinall	Allen	Pimblett	Nelson	McCann	Topuria
Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 38-22 2014 Champion	Aspinall	Allen	Pimblett	Nelson	McCann	Topuria
Nolan King @mma_kings 37-23	Volkov	Hooker	Pimblett	Nelson	McCann	Topuria
Simon Samano @SJSamano 37-23	Aspinall	Allen	Pimblett	Sato	McCann	Topuria
Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 36-24	Aspinall	Allen	Pimblett	Nelson	Carolina	Topuria
George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 36-24	Aspinall	Allen	Pimblett	Sato	Carolina	Topuria
Brian Garcia @thegoze 35-25 2017 Champion	Volkov	Hooker	Pimblett	Nelson	Carolina	Topuria
Matthew Wells @MrMWells 33-27	Aspinall	Allen	Pimblett	Nelson	McCann	Topuria
Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 28-32	Volkov	Hooker	Vargas	Sato	Carolina	Herbert

The UFC makes its long-awaited return to London this week with a heavyweight bout at the top of the card.

UFC Fight Night 204 takes place Saturday at O2 Arena in London. The card streams on ESPN+.

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

In the main event, Alexander Volkov (34-9 MMA, 8-3 UFC) takes on Tom Aspinall (11-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) at heavyweight. Aspinall is a slight -135 favorite at Tipico; the comeback on Volkov is +105. Our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers have Aspinall in close voting at 7-4.

In the co-feature, Arnold Allen (17-1 MMA, 8-0 UFC) will look to stay unbeaten in the UFC against Dan Hooker (21-11 MMA, 11-7 UFC) at featherweight. Allen is a slight -125 favorite and has the smallest possible edge in the picks at 6-5.

Also on the main card, rising home-country fan favorite Paddy Pimblett (17-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) meets Kazula Vargas (12-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) at lightweight. Pimblett is a -650 favorite and a near-unanimous pick at 10-1.

Gunnar Nelson (17-5-1 MMA, 8-5 UFC) returns from a lengthy layoff to take on short-notice replacement opponent Takashi Sato (16-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at welterweight. Nelson is a -550 favorite and a big 8-3 leader in the picks.

Luana Carolina (8-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) takes on Molly McCann (11-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) in a women’s flyweight bout. McCann is a slight -145 favorite, but it’s Carolina who has a 6-5 edge in the picks.

And to open the main card, Ilia Topuria (11-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is a 6-1 favorite at lightweight against Jai Herbert (11-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC). Topuria is our second near-unanimous pick at 10-1.

In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Aspinall (72 percent), Allen (64 percent), Pimblett (91 percent), Nelson (84 percent), McCann (70 percent) and Topuria (92 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.