By Ed Morgan
The first UFC event in the UK since 2019 did not disappoint with five of the six main card fights ending by way of stoppage.
The British fighters made sure to give their fans something to cheer for as the majority of them came out victorious in a sold out 02 Arena.
Tom Aspinall put on a picture perfect performance in the main event as he submitted veteran Alexander Volkov in the first round.
Aspinall started off fast as he landed a leg kick straight away before showing off his hand speed with accurate punches. He then completed a takedown and followed it up with a vicious ground and pound with big elbows opening up a cut on the head of Volkov.
Volkov managed to get back to his feet but it’s only for a short period as the Englishman won another takedown, which led to a lock in a straight armbar and forced Volkov to tap within seconds.
This dominant performance will move Aspinall up into the top six in the heavyweight rankings and shows he’s ready and willing to fight anyone as he believes he is the best in the UFC.
In his post fight interview he called out No. 4 ranked Tai Tuivasa who is coming off a statement knockout win over Derrick Lewis. Aspinall versus the Australian is a fight the fans want to see with two of the best and most explosive heavyweights in the UFC possibly facing off.
After the fight middleweight Darren Till, who was in Aspinalls corner, was full of praise saying: “Honestly I’m just astonished. We’re looking at the next champion of the heavyweight division”.
The co-main event saw Arnold Allen put on a clinic against Dan Hooker as he couldn’t seem to miss the target, showing amazing accuracy and getting the first round stoppage in a significant win.
Liverpool born Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett, a fan favourite, secured his second win in the UFC over Kazula Vargas by way of submission in the first round. After a shaky start that saw him get rocked by Vargas, Pimblett managed to use his wrestling to take the fight to the ground and finish it with a rear-naked choke.
Fellow scouser, Molly Mccann put on one of the performances of the night against Luana Carolina. She kept up the pressure throughout the fight, consistently landing power punches and finishing in spectacular fashion with a spinning backfist knockout in the third round.
Gunnar Nelson won by majority decision against Takashi Sato, in what was his first fight since 2019 having struggled with injuries. It was a dominant performance by the Icelander as he controlled the fight on the ground using his grappling skills.
Ilia Topuria, who had a falling out with Pimblett earlier on in fight week, came from behind after a poor first round and had a stunning knockout win over Jai Herbert which could possibly set up a future fight against Pimblett.
Two of the more noticeable winners on the undercard were Scotsman, Paul Craig, pulling off a triangle choke to defeat Nikita Krylov, and undefeated Welshman, Jack Shore, who improved his record to 16-0 in a unanimous win over Timur Valiev.