It was a great night for U.K. fighters Saturday, most notably for heavyweight Tom Aspinall at UFC London.
Aspinall notched his sixth consecutive stoppage by manhandling Volkov, landing several big shots and then took him down twice to secure the straight armlock submission in the very first frame.
The official time was 3:45.
Born for this 💪 #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/ganB0FzU5v
— UFC (@ufc) March 19, 2022
Aspinall (12-2-0) said earlier at media day that he simply was focusing on having fun and he certainly did that. With the win, he will likely move into the top five and leave “Drago” (34-10-0) on the outside looking in on the top 10.
Volkov slumped to 1-2-0 in his last three fights and his first submission loss since 2010.
There nine bonuses to match the nine finishes on Saturday night.
The London crowd is LOVING this 🕺
[ @TheUFCBaddy | #UFCLondon ] pic.twitter.com/KVlt45xrYg
— UFC (@ufc) March 19, 2022
President Dana White said afterwards that he was very impressed with the performances and how UFC London went. He even said off the top of his head that the UFC will return at some point later this year. France is also on the schedule.
9 finishes, 9 POTN bonuses, 1 𝑰𝑵𝑪𝑹𝑬𝑫𝑰𝑩𝑳𝑬 event 🔥
[ #UFCLondon | B2YB @BattleMotors ] pic.twitter.com/K0AShCpKBy
— UFC (@ufc) March 20, 2022
Aspinall, Arnold Allen, Paddy Pimblett, Molly McCann, Ilia Topuria, Makwan Amirkhani, Sergei Pavlovich, Paul Craig, and Muhammad Mokaev all collected $50,000 USD performance bonuses apiece.
Kenai Andrews checks in with his thoughts on the main card.
In case you missed the prelims:
MUHAMMAD MOKAEV DEF. CODY DURDEN VIA SUBMISSION (GUILLOTINE CHOKE) R1 0:58
ELISE REED DEF. CORY MCKENNA VIA SD (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
JACK SHORE DEF. TIMUR VALIEV VIA UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
PAUL CRAIG DEF. NIKITA KRYLOV VIA SUBMISSION (TRIANGLE CHOKE) R1 3:57
SERGEI PAVLOVICH DEF. SHAMIL ABDURAKHIMOV VIA TKO (STRIKES) R1 4:03
MAKAN AMIRKHANI DEF. MIKE GRUNDY VIA TECH SUBMISSION (ANACONDA CHOKE) R1 0:57
MAIN CARD
JAI HERBERT VS. #15 ILIA TOPURI (11-0-0)
FLIPPED THE SCRIPT!!!
[ @TopuriaIlia | #UFCLondon | Tune in LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/HifnrcI0ys
— UFC (@ufc) March 19, 2022
WINNER: ILIA TOPURI VIA TKO (STRIKES) R2 1:07
ANDREWS PREDICTION: ILIA TOPURI VIA SUBMISSION
Andrews: Wow! Topuri just unloaded with that right hand. Respect his striking now.
MOLLY MCCANN VS. LUANA CAROLINA
MOLLY MCANN JUST TORE THE ROOF OFF THE O2 🤯
[ @MeatballMolly | #UFCLondon | Tune in LIVE on @ESPNPlus 📺 ] pic.twitter.com/ez57fpIlXe
— UFC (@ufc) March 19, 2022
WINNER: MOLLY MCCANN VIA TKO (SPINNING BACK ELBOW) R3 1:52
ANDREWS PREDICTION: MOLLY MCCAN VIA SD
Andrews: Wow! McCann gave the fans and Paddy something to cheer about. Amazing back elbow.
GUNNAR NELSON VS. TAKASHI SATO
Back in business 👏@GunniNelson takes the UD win at #UFCLondon!
[ Main Card LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/R8fXh1czXc
— UFC (@ufc) March 19, 2022
WINNER: GUNNAR NELSON VIA UD (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
ANDREWS PREDICTION: GUNNAR NELSON VIA SUBMISSION
Andrews: Good ground game and grappling by Nelson, but let’s remember Sato was there on short notice and he couldn’t get the finish.
PADDY PIMBLETT VS. RODRIGO VARGAS
PADDY GET IT DONE IN LONDON!
[ @TheUFCBaddy | #UFCLondon ] pic.twitter.com/wJsqI2jaw6
— UFC (@ufc) March 19, 2022
WINNER: PADDY PIMBLETT VIA SUBMISSION (RNC) R1 3:51
ANDREWS PREDICTION: PADDY PIMBLETT VIA SUBMISSION
Andrews: Paddy was tested early, but then became the Baddy. Nicely done.
ARNOLD ALLEN VS. DAN HOOKER
ARNOLD IS NUMERO UNO. ☝️ #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/l0ZBgyE4Iv
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) March 19, 2022
WINNER: ARNOLD ALLEN VIA TKO (PUNCHES AND ELBOWS) R1 2:33
ANDREWS PREDICTION: ARNOLD ALLEN VIA UD
Andrews: A devastating loss for Hooker. That was Allen’s first finish since 2018. One more loss like this and Hooker can hang ’em up.
MAIN EVENT
ALEXANDER VOLKOV VS. TOM ASPINALL
Tom Aspinall has ARRIVED 💪 #UFCLondon pic.twitter.com/GUVWxBCpW5
— UFC (@ufc) March 19, 2022
WINNER: TOM ASPINALL VIA SUBMISSION (STRAIGHT ARM LOCK) R1 3:45
ANDREWS PREDICTION: ALEXANDER VOLKOV VIA TKO
Andrews: Wow! Aspinall proved me wrong and manhandled Volkov pretty good!
The next UFC event is UFC Fight Night 205, which is set for the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Heavyweights Curtis Blaydes and Chris Daukaus meet in the main event.
