UFC London: Brits show out but ultimately leave disappointed

A UFC Fight Night in London should be a spectacular affair. British fans, starved of action since July 2023 when Manchester’s own Tom Aspinall knocked out Marcin Tybura, were clearly up for the card with chants, cheering and whooping raining down throughout the night. Shame then that the fights were not up to scratch. Despite boasting a raft of English talent there was no standout fight, with the bonus for the ‘Fight of the Night’, not being awarded, there wasn’t a single knockout. But for a true MMA fan there was some excellent technique on show, and ultimately many interesting story lines to pursue.

The first fight of the main card was England’s Nathaniel Wood vs France’s Morgan Charrière in a pretty straightforward decision victory for Wood. The Brit essentially just danced around the hard hitting Charrière for three rounds; jabbing, avoiding the takedown, but mostly feinting. Wood was so much faster than his opponent that by the end Charrière had taken to essentially circling around avoiding him. This and the lack of successful takedowns made it a straightforward decision for the judges, however Wood has been in the UFC for 7 years at this point and needs bigger wins than this to progress higher.

Jordan Vucenic vs Chris Duncan was a more interesting affair with Vucenic coming in a big favourite due to his crisp striking and Cage Warriors pedigree. However Duncan quickly reversed the hype with an early knockdown which led to on the ground domination. Duncan appeared much stronger and smarter in the Octagon, dominating Vucenic on the ground and surviving on the feet, where Vucenic looked far superior. It fell apart for Jordan when he stupidly attempted to take Duncan down from miles away and was subsequently thrown to the ground where he eventually found himself in a guillotine that he couldn’t escape from giving Duncan a second round victory.

The next fight saw the end of Molly McCann in the UFC, as she was submitted via rear naked choke in the first round of her fight against Alexia Thainara and then announced her retirement after. The fight was nothing to write home about with Molly getting thrown down early and never getting back up, despite the chants of ‘Molly’ echoing about the O2. But what it does sadly represent is the end of the most popular British female MMA fighter, despite never reaching the heights of her back to back spinning elbow knockouts, she remained a staple and undeniably inspired many British women to take up a sport once considered a purely masculine discipline. It is a shame then that she went out this way, but considering the emerging talent on the female side of the UFC it perhaps isn’t surprising.

Molly McCann. Credit, Everton Football Club @ Wikimedia Commons

Kevin Holland vs Gunnar Nelson was always going to be fascinating. Holland seems to be perpetually fighting, having already fought at middleweight this year, with this being his 25th fight in the UFC despite only being 32. Humorously, Holland himself has said it's too much but that he lives too expensive of a lifestyle to stop now. Nelson on the other hand hasn’t fought in two years and clearly has no real motivation in the sport anymore at 36. Something that could be seen in the fight. Holland, moving down from middleweight, looked fast on his feet and active, combining rangey blows with devastating elbows and bony knees into Nelson’s midsection. He even came close to knocking Nelson out in the first round but the Icelander was saved by the bell. This domination continued throughout with Nelson not being able to stand with Holland and not being able to really damage him on the floor even when he did take him down as Holland used his length to slip out time and time again. Another easy judges decision, but for both of these the future doesn’t look particularly bright, but I would argue neither of them particularly care.

The Co-Main event on Saturday night was Jan Blachowcz vs Carlos Ulberg, a light-heavyweight clash that should have propelled the rising Ulberg to a title fight against newly crowned Magomed Ankalaev but instead dragged him down. Despite a UD against Blachowcz, Ulberg did not impress as the UFC would have wanted the Australian to. Jan, now 42 and probably never getting a title shot again, was supposed to be swept out of the way but instead dragged Ulberg into an attritional battle. Jan’s leg kicks are famous for their severity, giving Ankalaev serious issues when they drew a couple of years ago, Ulberg also found them tough to take as every Blachowcz feint brought a reaction from him. Ultimately Jan didn’t throw enough and had to resort to charging Ulberg down in order to land any real blows as Ulberg was too long and fast for him. But even at his great age this wasn’t an easy decision for the judges as when Jan landed it looked hard and impressive. This fight was an issue for the UFC as Ulberg did not produce as a star should against a gatekeeper like Blachowcz, luckily for them Pereira will still be good for a few more years and Jiri Prochazka will hopefully be enough to beat Ankalaev who they never wanted to beat the aging but hyper-popular Pereira.

On to the main event, Leon Edwards vs Sean Brady. Edwards, a champion at the start of his last fight, looked to bounce back and secure himself as the next title challenge while Brady looked to take the number 1 ranked contender spot for himself and give himself a chance at a title shot. While Edwards opened bright, looking fast on his feet and countering Brady's attempts to close distance, the Brummie was very soon after swallowed up by Brady’s stocky figure, with the American only allowing him to his feet between rounds. As soon as the Philadelphian sat Leon down easily at the end of the first round boos rained down on the Octagon as the fans knew what was coming.

Leon Edwards. Credit, MatheusMenezessss @ Wikimedia Commons

Edwards barely landed a hit on Brady for the rest of the fight with a mix of potent takedowns and incredibly strong grappling on the floor leading to a guillotine sinking in in the fourth round and Leon tapping to barely a whisper from the partisan crowd. The fight was a masterclass in control from Brady who played to his strengths, but Edwards, who’s takedown defence looked good in his title defences against Usman and Covington seemed to collapse under every charge. He seems to have been well and truly exposed in his last two bouts and will struggle to see a title challenge any time soon, he will be given a striker next to accentuate his skills and put on a good show, but he desperately needs to find an answer for a strong wrestler/grappler or his title claim could be finished. For Brady on the other hand the future is bright, no doubt he will have to wait for Shavkat Rakmanov to fight for a title before he does, but he looked good, better than when he lost to champion Belal Muhammed a few years ago.

The night was disappointing, especially to all those that came to see Edwards. But the amount of quality British and Irish talent on display was encouraging, with British MMA never being in a more prominent place in the world. The event may have been a dud but the future is bright.