UFC London: Volkov vs Aspinall | 6th Round Post-Fight Show
Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado are here to breakdown this Saturday’s, March 19th, ‘UFC LONDON: Alexander Volkov vs. Tom Aspinall’ Fight Night event. The guys will have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event.
Bloody Elbow fight experts, Zane Simon & Eddie Mercado, are back, recording for you on Saturday, March 19th, 2022, to breakdown the UFC LONDON: ‘Volkov vs. Aspinall’ jam-packed 12-bout Fight Night event, which was simulcast in English & Spanish exclusively on ESPN+ from the 02 Arena, London, England. The card brought us a wide array of compelling clashes in a number of relevant divisions. So, let’s check it out...
The guys have hot takes, possible next fights, as well as reactions to the overall event in the player above, or can be caught on our Bloody Elbow Presents YouTube Channel or any of our BE Presents Podcast Network. (SPOILERS...)
The Main Event:
The UFC put their Heavyweights on display tonight in the Main Event of UFC LONDON. The match-up between Alexander Volkov vs. Tom Aspinall ended much more quickly than many had anticipated it would. The rising British star of the heavyweight division from Atherton, Aspinall, was coming at this on a seven-fight win streak, with a record of 11-2, but only ranked #11 in the division. Meanwhile, ‘Drago’, the impressive veteran Russian brawler, ranked #6 in the division, walked into the Octagon with a storied 34-9 record, after coming off a win to Marcin Tybura at UFC 267.
"First thing, someone buy me a beer. Second thing, we drink beer in the UK, not just Australia. So, Mr. Tai Tuivasa, next time you're in the UK, let's do it." - Tom Aspinall calling out Tai Tuivasa. #UFCLondon
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 19, 2022
"I was born for this, I'm ready." - Tom Aspinall #UFCLondon
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 19, 2022
The Co-Main:
In the co-main event, we had a Featherweight scrap between the British contender, ‘Almighty’ Arnold Allen, and the New Zealander, Dan ‘The Hangman’ Hooker. Allen, was intent on extending his eight-fight win streak in front of his home crowd. Hooker had just returned to the lightweight division after a brief detour at featherweight. ‘The Hangman’ was in quite a bit of trouble early on, despite his efforts to fight back, the ref stopped the fight in the first round.
"I thought 'fuck it,' just throw." - Arnold Allen on trying to find his range in the fight. #UFCLondon
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 19, 2022
"I'm top 5 now, for sure. What are we thinking, Calvin Kattar?" - Arnold Allen with the post fight callout. #UFCLondon
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 19, 2022
Rounding out the main card, were four additional fights:
Just prior to the co-main event we saw Lightweights Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett the local favorite from Liverpool and the brawler from Mexico City, Kazula Vargas, go at it in what the UFC was marketing as “The People’s Main Event”...
"The O2? Too small, too small. Get us a stadium, get us Anfield and we'll fill it." - Paddy Pimblett #UFCLondon
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 19, 2022
"Lions don't concern themselves with the opinions of sheep." - Paddy Pimblett #UFCLondon
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 19, 2022
We were treated to a Welterweight bout, from Gunnar Nelson and Takashi Sato, who was replacing Claudio Silva. It was a solid back and forth with Sato successfully defending a rear naked choke at one point, but in the end the scorecards were not in his favor.
"Feels great, awesome. Very happy to be here." - Gunnar Nelson on returning to the UFC after a long layoff. #UFCLondon
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 19, 2022
There was also a Flyweight tilt between Liverpool’s Molly McCann and Brazil’s Luana Carolina. Luana had a height advantage that was unable to save her in the end, a spinning back elbow midway into the third round put an end to this battle...
"I've got them Irish/Scouse lungs in me, so I'm ready to punch all night." - Molly McCann #UFCLondon
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 19, 2022
Also worth mentioning, was the Lightweight debut of Ilia Topuria of Spain against Jai Herbert, the British favorite in our main card opener. It didn’t look good for Ilia in the early stages but by the time he entered the second round he ended Herbert’s chances at hometown victory with a hard right hand.
"I want that blonde bitch. That Paddy bitch." - Ilia Topuria, warrior poet. #UFCLondon
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 19, 2022
Our featured prelim tonight highlighted one of the nine bouts on the card to put on a performance of the night finish, between Makwan Amirkhani and Mike Grundy. It never got past the first round...
"We were fighting for our job, and I just wanted it more." - Makwan Amirkhani #UFCLondon
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) March 19, 2022
For all the results, reactions and much more detail on the main card, with plenty of tidbits about the six-bout prelims card as well, be sure to hit play on the show to hear what our fight experts, Zane and Eddie, have to say.
Overall, this 12-bout card saw three exciting first round finishes, five thrilling KO/TKO’s, three sweet submissions, and six hard-fought decisions. Rounding things out, our fighters who were awarded for putting forth POTN efforts? EVERY FINISH ON THE CARD RECEIVED A BONUS for the full POTN $50K (per Brett Okamoto): FOTN honors went to nobody tonight.
Here’s a look at the UFC LONDON: ‘ALEXANDER VOLKOV VS TOM ASPINALL’ fight card’s full results & updated fight records —
ESPN+ MAIN CARD | SAT. MAR 19
At 3:34 — 12. 265lbs: Tom Aspinall (12-2) DEF. Alexander Volkov (34-10) — SUB, Straight Armlock at 3:45 of Rd 1 — POTN BONUS
At 12:54 — 11. 145lbs: Arnold Allen (18-1) DEF. Dan Hooker (21-12) — KO/TKO, Punches, Knees & Elbows at 2:33 of Rd 1 — POTN BONUS
At 18:33 — 10. 155bs: Paddy Pimblett (18-3) DEF. Rodrigo Vargas (12-5) — SUB, Rear Naked Choke at 3:49 of Rd 1 — POTN BONUS
At 26:54 — 9. 170lbs: Gunnar Nelson (18-5) DEF. Takashi Sato (16-5) — DEC, Unanimous (30-26x3)
At 29:43 — 8. 125lbs: Molly McCann (12-4) DEF. Luana Carolina (8-3) — KO/TKO, Spinning Back Elbow at 1:52 of Rd 3, Total 11:52 — POTN BONUS
At 35:34 — 7. 155lbs: Ilia Topuria (12-0) DEF. Jai Herbert (11-4) — KO/TKO Right Hook at 1:07 of Rd 2, Total 6:07 — POTN BONUS
ESPN+ PRELIMS
At 42:26 — 6. 145lbs: Makwan Amirkhani (17-7) DEF. Mike Grundy (12-4) — SUB, Anaconda Choke at 0:57 of Rd 1 — POTN BONUS
At 46:08 — 5. 265lbs: Sergei Pavlovich (15-1) DEF. Shamil Abdurakhimov (20-7) — KO/TKO, Punch to G&P at 4:03 of Rd 1 — POTN BONUS
At 48:58 — 4. 205lbs: Paul Craig (16-4) DEF. Nikita Krylov (27-9) — SUB, Triangle Choke at 3:57 of Rd 1 — POTN BONUS
At 54:11 — 3. 135lbs: Jack Shore (16-0) DEF. Timur Valiev (18-3) — DEC, Unanimous (29-28x2, 29-27)
At 57:17 — 2. 115lbs: Elise Reed (5-1) DEF. Cory McKenna (6-2) — DEC, SPLIT (29-28x2, 27-30 for Reed)
At 1:02:04 — 1. 125lbs: Muhammad Mokaev (6-0) DEF. Cody Durden (12-4) — SUB, Guillotine Choke at 0:58 of Rd 1 — POTN BONUS
Sunday, March 20th: Check out our video production of the show, with all new enhanced graphics to accompany the guys’ commentary, on our Bloody Elbow Presents YouTube Channel right here:
At that time, timestamps will have been edited into this post for your listening convenience.
Be sure to follow Zane - @TheZaneSimon & Eddie - @TheEddieMercado; and follow @BloodyElbow on twitter as well, for all the latest in MMA happenings.
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Join us again for another episode of ‘6th Round’ next Saturday, March 26th for UFC COLUMBUS: ‘Blaydes vs. Daukaus‘, & more!