The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is gearing up for its Fight Night card in London on March 18. The event will take place inside the O2 Arena. The UFC has announced six fights for the event. One of those bouts will feature a fighter who will be stepping inside the Octagon for the final time.
Brad Pickett (25-13) will fight for the last time when he goes toe-to-toe with Henry Briones (16-6-1). The two were supposed to meet in Feb. 2016, but Briones went down with an injury. “One Punch” would like to end his career on a high note and avoid walking away with three straight losses.
Another bout set for the card is a welterweight tilt between Leon Edwards (12-3) and Vicente Luque (11-5-1). Edwards has won two straight bouts and hopes to keep his momentum going. Luque will look to extend his winning streak to five. “The Silent Assassin” is coming off a devastating knockout win over Belal Muhammad at UFC 205.
Lightweight prospect Marc Diakiese (11-0) and Teemu Packalen (8-1) will also throw down inside the Octagon. Diakiese’s first two bouts under the UFC banner weren’t pretty, but he showed his ability to overcome adversity. Packalen’s previous bout lasted only 24 seconds. He choked out Thibault Gouti and missed tying his fastest record by one second.
Tom Breese (10-1) suffered the first loss of his career at UFC 199. Sean Strickland edged him out in the split decision defeat. He’ll have a chance to get back in the win column when he faces Oluwale Bamgbose (6-2). “The Holy War Angel” dropped a unanimous decision to Cezar Ferreira in his last outing.
The other two announced bouts are Bradley Scott (10-4) vs. Scott Askham (14-3) and Darren Stewart (7-0, 1 NC) vs. Francimar Barroso (18-5, 1 NC). The event will air exclusively on UFC Fight Pass.
A planned bout between light heavyweights Jimi Manuwa (16-2) and Corey Anderson (9-2) wasn’t mentioned in the UFC’s announcement.
