London has been a popular destination for the Ultimate Fighting
Championship in recent months.
The latest visit occurred this past Saturday, as UFC Fight Night
224 took place at the O2 Arena and saw Tom
Aspinall make a triumphant return with a first-round technical
knockout of Marcin
Tybura in the evening’s main event. According to UFC senior
vice president Dave Shaw, the event was an all-around success — and
maybe a little bit less hectic than the previous visit.
Advertisement
“The trip was great. It feels like home. We’ve been here four times
in the last 18 months,” Shaw said at Saturday’s post-fight press
conference. “For us, coming off of [the UFC 286] pay-per-view in
March, where it was a very intense week – big week, lots going on,
big card, Dana [White] and the whole crew, everyone here – it felt
a little bit more manageable. But it felt like home. We’ve been in
The O2 so many times now. I think for our crews, for the teams, it
was fairly straightforward. Really nice to be in the city. The city
also felt a little quieter.”
UFC Fight Night 224 featured a 15-bout lineup populated with a
diverse selection of athletes. That’s by design for this type of
event.
“I think we had 12 fighters from U.K. and Ireland. We had 12
different nationalities represented,” Shaw said. “Most of the cards
that we do in London are a real celebration of European MMA with
your requisite Brazilians and Americans fighting, as well.”
While the UFC has been traveling to London exclusively lately, that
will likely change going forward as the promotion looks to maintain
a consistent schedule in the U.K.
“I think we’re going to continue with two a year in the U.K. at a
minimum. I think what we’re probably going to do in 2024 is move
outside of London for one of the fights,” Shaw said. “I don’t think
we’re going to have two fights per year in London. But you never
know what Dana wants to do, depending on who’s holding the belt and
where people are ranked. But I wouldn’t be surprised if we … it’s
been a while since we’ve been in Glasgow, it’s been a while since
we’ve been in Manchester, we want to get back to Dublin. There’s a
lot of places we want to go. We expect that to take on a slightly
different complexion next year.”