This week, the UFC announced that they would be returning to London, England. Fans will be welcomed back for the first time in almost three years as the world’s premier MMA organization will be making their return to the O2 arena.
However, a main event wasn’t announced at the time. Just a couple of days later, we know what the main event will be. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported this evening that England’s own Tom Aspinall (11-2) will be headlining the UFC’s return to London as he takes on top heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov (34-9).
Volkov will be looking for his second consecutive win. The last time we saw him was back at UFC 267 when he defeated Marcin Tybura. Overall, Volkov is 3-1 in his last four fights with the lone loss coming against current UFC interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane.
Since making his debut with the UFC back in 2016, Volkov has been very impressive. He’s gone 8-3 and in those eight wins he has wins over the likes of Alistair Overeem, Walt Harris, and former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum. He’s only lost to Derrick Lewis, Gane, and Curtis Blaydes.
UFC homecoming for Aspinall
This will be a massive test and challenge for the UFC’s top heavyweight prospect. Aspinall will enter this contest on a seven-fight win streak. However, what’s more impressive is that not a single one of those fights has gone past the second round.
He made his UFC debut in 2020 and so far has gone 4-0. Only Andrei Arlovski has gotten past the first round and even he was stopped in the first 90 seconds of the second round. Aspinall has finished all eleven of his victories.
Originally, Aspinall was supposed to take on Shamil Abdurakhimov, however, the UFC has decided to pivot. Now, Aspinall is getting a big time fight against a big time contender in Volkov. If he beats Volkov, it’s only the division’s best that sit ahead of him.