You’d be hard-pressed to find someone in the MMA fanbase not excited for today’s UFC London card, and that includes Dana White.
Today, the UFC will return to England’s capital for the first time since 2019. After being deprived of action throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, UK fans are finally set to see top-draw Octagon scraps live in the flesh once again.
Delivering a card worth of the occasion, the promotion has stacked the event, set to take place inside the renowned O2 Arena, with a host of exciting international and British names.
During an appearance on BT Sport’s Fight Week Live on Thursday, the UFC President gave his thoughts on his organization returning across the Atlantic and the exciting lists of bouts slated to go down at UFC London.
Despite the likes of Leon Edwards, Michael Bisping, Jorge Masvidal, Carlos Condit, Dan Hardy, Mirko Cro Cop, Anderson Silva, and Fabricio Werdum all taking to the cage in the UK in previous visits, White suggested no British event has been as stacked with talent as this weekend’s card.
“I’m excited. We’re not gonna need a roof on Saturday night. Believe me, the roof is gonna blow off this place,” said the UFC president. “We haven’t been here in three years and, like I was just saying to Mike (Bisping), the talent on this card is probably the best we’ve ever had out of the UK, so I’m excited to see what these guys can do on Saturday night.”
12 Fights Set For Stacked UFC London Card
Headlining Saturday’s UFC London card will be home favorite Tom Aspinall. The surging heavyweight prospect has gone 4-0 in the promotion so far, a record that includes a second-round submission of former champion Andrei Arlovski and a first-round TKO against the ranked Sergey Spivak.
In the Manchester native’s way of a rise into the title picture will be Alexander Volkov, a perennial UFC contender and former Bellator titleholder who’s featured in five main events on MMA’s biggest stage. He’ll be hoping to prove he’s a step above the rising names in his sixth headliner this weekend.
Setting the stage for the heavyweight behemoths will be a co-main event clash between fan-favorite UFC mainstay Dan Hooker and England’s own Arnold Allen.
While the Ipswich native, currently ranked #7 at 145 pounds, will be targeting a top-five slot and a step towards the gold at UFC London, “The Hangman” will be looking to make a successful return to featherweight following a 1-3 record across his last four lightweight bouts.
The current bout order for Saturday’s UFC London card is as follows:
Preliminary Card
Muhammad Mokaev vs. Cody Durden (flyweight)
Cory McKenna vs. Elise Reed (women’s strawweight)
Jack Shore vs. Timur Valiev (bantamweight)
Paul Craig vs. Nikita Krylov (light heavyweight)
Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Sergei Pavlovich (heavyweight)
Mike Grundy vs. Makwan Amirkhani (featherweight)
Main Card
Jai Herbert vs. Ilia Topuria (lightweight)
Molly McCann vs. Luana Carolina (women’s flyweight)
Gunnar Nelson vs. Takashi Sato (welterweight)
Paddy Pimblett vs. Kazula Vargas (lightweight)
Arnold Allen vs. Dan Hooker (featherweight co-main event)
Tom Aspinall vs. Alexander Volkov (heavyweight main event)
All fighters were successful on the scale at Friday’s weigh-ins.
Which fight are you most looking forward to at UFC London?
