9:14 PM ET
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Brett OkamotoESPN Staff Writer
- MMA columnist for ESPN.com
- Analyst for “MMA Live”
- Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun
A heavyweight matchup between English prospect Tom Aspinall and Alexander Volkov will headline the UFC’s return to London on March 19, UFC president Dana White told ESPN on Thursday.
The UFC has not held a live event in London since March 2019. The promotion’s first canceled event of 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic was actually scheduled to take place at the O2 Arena on March 21, 2020.
Aspinall (11-2) was originally scheduled to face Shamil Abdurakhimov on the same card, however the UFC elected to break up that fight in favor of this new main event.
Fighting out of Liverpool, Aspinall has won seven in a row and is a perfect 4-0 in the UFC. His most notable win came via rear-naked choke against Andrei Arlovski last February. He has finished all four of his UFC opponents.
Volkov (34-9), of Russia, is a 12-year veteran of the sport. He has an 8-3 record in the UFC, with wins over Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum and Roy Nelson. He is coming off a decision victory over Marcin Tybura in October.
Volkov and Aspinall are the UFC’s Nos. 5 and 10 ranked heavyweights, respectively.
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