UFC London (Credit UFC Twitter)
UFC announces return to London for first time since 2019 set for March 19
After multiple years away due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UFC announced on Wednesday that they will be returning to London, England on March 19. For the first time since 2019, the promotion announced a UFC London event which will be a Fight Night event hosted at the O2 Arena, although there was no main event announced for the event yet.
The official announcement from the promotion noted that tickets will go on sale for the event on February 4 and released a hype video on their YouTube channel for the event.
The last time there was supposed to be a UFC London event was back in 2020 when the main event was set between Leon Edwards and former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, which would have provided some clarity at the top of the division. The event was canceled in the wake of the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and shortly after the UFC went on a nearly two-month hiatus due to the pandemic, but was among the first professional sport to return to live-action at UFC 249 in 2020.
Three years ago was the last time there was a UFC London event and there were plenty of fireworks provided from that event. In the main event, Jorge Masvidal began his superstar takeoff when he knocked out the hometown favorite Darren Till. The win over Till would then be followed up with a viral backstage altercation between Masvidal and Leon Edwards which would end up with the infamous slogan “three-piece and a soda”.
Although there was no main event announced for the UFC London event on March 19, there have been several fights announced for the date and the card currently has 7 fights scheduled on the card, with plenty of well-known UK fighters slated to compete.
Here is how the UFC London card looks as of now:
- Shamil Abdurakhimov vs Tom Aspinall
- Mike Grundy vs Makwan Amirkhani
- Jack Shore vs Timur Valiev
- Molly McCann vs Luana Carolina
- Muhammad Mokaev vs Cody Durden
- Elise Reed vs Cory McKenna
- Jake Hadley vs Allan Nascimento
Last month Darren Till suggested that he would be competing on the UFC London card and targeted Uriah Hall as his potential opponent, although there has been no word on if Till will be added to the event.
