In the early morning of March 20, Beijing time, the 204th session of the UFC Fighting Night competition was fiercely launched at the O2 Stadium in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The scene was packed, with 9 of the 12 matches ending the battle with the opponent.
The headline main match was between Russian star Alexander Volkov (34-10, 22 K, 3 S) against homegrown rising star Tom Aspinar (12-2, 9 K, 3 S), and the match began with Aspinor taking the initiative to attack the fast-paced attack, and then successfully carrying it into the ground. Aspinar pressed a series of elbow blows on the side to open Volkov's head, after which Volkov managed to get up and return to standing. Aspinar continued to suppress with his punches, and then successfully held the upper position again, this time Aspinar directly arm crossed the solid surrender to win, the game took 3 minutes and 45 seconds to end the battle. That's Azpinar's fifth straight win since joining the UFC in 2020 and ending it all. After the match, Azpinar said he hoped to have a match with Tai Tuivasa.
The joint home event was between homegrown rising star Arnold Allen (18-1, 6 K, 4 S) against New Zealand star Dan Hooke (21-12, 10 K, 7 S), which was also a game in which Hooke was relegated to featherweight. At the beginning of the game, Hooke slowly suppressed the step by step, but Allen's rapid attack hit Hook was a little shaken, and the two sides hit each other with short shots, and Allen's strike effect was better. Then Allen's fist and leg combination launched a wave of onslaught, Hooke was beaten without a fight back, the referee terminated the game, allen won the first leg 2 minutes 33 seconds TKO, which is also Allen's 9 consecutive wins since joining the UFC in 2015.
In the other four home games: homegrown rising star Paddy Pimblatt (18-3, 6 K, 8 S) won two straight UFC games after hanging naked behind Mexico's Rodrigo Vargas (12-5, 7 K, 3 S) in the first leg of the first leg. Iceland's Gunnar Nelson (18-5-1, 4 K, 12 S) unanimously defeated Japan's Tensuke Sato (16-5, 11 K, 2 S). Homegrown molly McCarthane (12-4, 5 K, 0 S) turned around in the third leg 1 minute 52 seconds to elbow Brazil's Luvana Carolina (8-3, 2 K, 1 S). Georgia unbeaten rising star Ilya Toplia (12-0, 4 K, 7 S) hit ko-based Jay Herbert (11-4, 9 K, 1 S) in the second leg, which is also Toplia's four consecutive wins at the UFC and continues to be unbeaten.
There were also several high-profile showdowns in the sub-tournament, with Russia's Sergei Pavlovich (15-1, 12 K, 0 S) TKO compatriot Shamil Abdullahimov (20-7, 9 K, 4 S) winning three consecutive games in the first set. Scots striker Paul Craig (16-4-1, 3 K, 13 S) triangulated Ukrainian rising star Nikita Krylov (27-9, 11 K, 15 S) in the first leg. Wales unbeaten rising star Jack Shore (16-0, 4 K, 8 S) unanimously decided to win against Russia's Timur Valliev (18-3, 5 K, 2 S, 1 N) to continue the UFC's five-game winning streak.
Contest Results:
Mains:
Heavyweight Competition:
Tom Aspinall wins Alexander Volkov surrender (arm cross solid) 1 round - 3:45
Featherweight Competition:
Arnold Allen wins Dan Hooker TKO (boxing) 1 round - 2:33
Lightweight Competition:
Paddy Pimblett beat Rodrigo Vargas to surrender (back hanging naked) 1 round - 3:50
Sub-middleweight competitions:
Gunnar Nelson beat Takashi Sato unanimously decided (30–26, 30–26, 30–26) for 3 rounds
Women's FlyWeight Competition:
Molly McCann wins over Luana Carolina KO (turn elbow) 3 rounds - 1:52
Ilia Topuria wins Jai Herbert KO (boxing) 2 rounds - 1:07
Secondary:
Makwan Amirkhani wins Mike Grundy to surrender (Python twist) 1 round - 0:57
Sergei Pavlovich beat Shamil Abdurakhimov TKO (boxing) 1 round - 4:03
Light Heavyweight Competition:
Paul Craig wins Nikita Krylov surrender (triangle twist) 1 round - 3:57
Hatchweight Competition:
Jack Shore beat Timur Valiev unanimously decided (29–28, 29–28, 29–27) for 3 rounds
Women's GrassWeight Competition:
Elise Reed wins Cory McKenna's divisive decision (27–30, 29–28, 29–28) for 3 rounds
Flyweight Competition:
Muhammad Mokaev defeated Cody Durden to surrender (guillotine) 1 round - 0:58
Past interviews
Directed by Li Ke
Kung Fu star Li Bingyuan Jackie Chan female disciple Xu Dongmei