The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is back in London, England this Sat. night (March 19, 2022) for what should be a raucous evening of action topped off with the Heavyweights.
No stranger to the headliner spot, former Bellator champion Alexander Volkov (34-9) will occupy one-half of the night’s main event. On the other side will be first-time main eventer out of Liverpool, Tom Aspinall.
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LIVE! Stream UFC ‘London’ On ESPN+
The wait is over! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to O2 Arena in London, England, on March 19, 2022, for the first time in two years led by a hard-hitting Heavyweight showdown between top-ranked division contenders, Alexander Volkov (No. 6) and Tom Aspinall (No. 11). In the UFC ‘London’ co-main event, Dan Hooker returns to Featherweight action against Arnold Allen, while up-and-coming English striking sensation, Paddy Pimblett, locks horns with Rodrigo Vargas.
Aspinall, 28, has accrued an 11-2 record up to this point with his last four coming in the Octagon all by finish. In total, he’s won nine times via knockout with two submissions and never gone past the second round.
“Biggest test of my career by far, I’m completely aware of that,” Aspinall said at UFC London media day. “I would like to keep myself a secret for as long as possible. These Heavyweights think they know stuff about me, they don’t know s—t about me. They don’t know nothing about me. They’ve seen this much of my game. So anybody out there who thinks they know what my game is, they don’t know nothing.
“If I can finish him in 30 seconds, I will. But I would also like to do five. I’m not really bothered either way.”
Aspinall’s 2021 was the most impressive year of his still-young career as he earned performance bonuses in each of his two times out. First, he became only the second man to defeat Andrei Arlovski by submission (watch highlights) before putting Sergey Spivak away with strikes in September (watch highlights).
Currently ranked at No. 11 in the division, a Volkov (No. 6) win could catapult Aspinall right into the thick of things in the land of giants.
“I mean, I’ve trained for five rounds,” he said. “Like you said, I’ve never gone past the second so new territory for me. I’m completely aware that if you look at the stats on paper, this is a complete mismatch in his favor. I’m aware of that. He has got so much more experience than me, he’s fought far more high-level guys than me, he’s been in the top 10 for I don’t know how many years at this point. I’m just an up-and-coming guy breaking in the top 10 — on paper. But on paper doesn’t really mean nothing when it comes to actual fighting.”