The Octagon returned to England for UFC London event, a twelve-bout fight card headlined by Alexander Volkov vs. Tom Aspinall.
The highly anticipated heavyweight main event proved to be a coming out party for Tom Aspinall. The Manchester native made things look easy against his Russian opponent earning a first round submission victory. Aspinall was able to secure a straight arm lock shortly after the midway point of the opening round, which forced Volkov to tapout.
The co-main event of UFC London featured a men’s featherweight contest between Dan Hooker and Arnold Allen. The bout proved to be an absolute slugfest, with Dan Hooker taking the brunt of those punches. Arnold Allen was able to connect with a good combination early but then appeared to be clipped by a counter punch from ‘The Hangman’. Despite that, Allen pressed forward and proceeded to unleash a plethora of heavy strikes which ultimately forced the referee to step in and stop the contest.
Following the conclusion of tonight’s event, UFC officials announced at the post-fight press conference that nine fighters would be taking home performance bonuses.
Performance of the night: Paddy Pimblett earned an extra $50k for his first round submission victory over Kazula Vargas on tonight’s UFC London main card.
Performance of the night: Muhammad Mokaev pocketed an extra $50k for his first round submission victory (guillotine choke) over Cody Durden. The flyweight contest served as the first bout of today’s preliminary fight card.
Performance of the night: Paul Craig earned an extra $50k for his incredible come from behind submission win over Nikita Krylov. The Scotsman will likely have moved into the light heavyweight top-ten with the win.
Performance of the night: Sergei Pavlovich scored an extra $50k for his first round TKO victory over Shamil Abdurakhimov on today’s prelims.
Performance of the night: Makwan Amirkhani earned an extra $50k for his slick submission win over Mike Grundy in today’s UFC London featured prelim.
Performance of the night: pocketed an extra $50k for his Ilia Topuria nasty knockout of Jai Herbert. The Georgian was able to shut the lights out on Herbert thanks to a perfectly placed right hand.
Performance of the night: Molly McCann took home an extra $50k for her incredible third round knockout victory over Luana Carolina. ‘Meatball Molly’ connects with a spinning back elbow which sent Carolina crashing to the canvas in a state of unconsciousness (see that here).
Performance of the night: Arnold Allen earned an extra $50k for his first round destruction of Dan Hooker in today’s UFC London co-main event. The win marked Allen’s 11th in a row and his him poised for a massive fight next.
Performance of the night: Tom Aspinall earned an extra $50k for his submission victory over Alexander Volkov in tonight’s event headliner. The Manchester native forced the former Bellator champ to tapout due to a straight arm lock.