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Fight By Fight Preview | UFC London
Setting The Table For A Buffet Of Action As The UFC Returns To London This Weekend
By E. Spencer Kyte, on X @spencerkyte
Saturday night, the UFC makes its 16th visit to London and 30th trek to the United Kingdom, making it the fourth nation — or collection of nations, in this case — to cross the 30-event barrier, along with the United States, Brazil, and Canada.
Despite the frequent trips across the Atlantic, it’s been nearly two years since the Octagon touched down at The O2 Arena, as last year’s British excursion brought UFC 304 to Manchester, and the promotion has done well to stack the deck with talent from across the U.K. and surrounding areas, bringing a typically stacked event back to the shores of the Thames.
Here’s a closer look at what’s on tap for Saturday night.
Main Event Matchup: Leon Edwards vs Sean Brady
Former welterweight champ Leon Edwards returns to action for the first time since dropping the title, facing off with charging contender Sean Brady.
Edwards looks to maintain his perfect UFC record in London as he ventures back into the Octagon following his unanimous decision loss to Belal Muhammad last summer in Manchester. “Rocky” had gone 13 straight without a setback prior to that contest, and will be looking to prove that he’s still one of the elite competitors in the 170-pound ranks.
The 32-year-old Brady continues to inch towards a championship opportunity, having earned consecutive victories since suffering the lone loss of his career to Muhammad back at UFC 280. After submitting Kelvin Gastelum towards the end of 2023, the Philadelphia native out-worked Gilbert Burns in his lone appearance of 2024, moving to 17-1 in the process.
Edwards was originally booked to face Jack Della Maddalena, who was then called up to face Muhammad for the title at UFC 315 in Montreal, leaving space for Brady to step in. This is a very different matchup, as the American tends to grapple much more than his Australian counterpart, though the pressure and focus on Edwards to show his performance last July was simply an off night remains the same.
Additional Main Card Bouts
Jan Błachowicz vs Carlos Ulberg
Jan Błachowicz and Carlos Ulberg face off in this clash of Top 10 light heavyweights looking to cement their place in the pecking order of the division where a new man now sits on the throne.
The former champ Blachowicz turned 42 last month and makes the walk for the first time since welcoming Alex Pereira to the division at UFC 291. He dropped that fight by split decision and battled current titleholder Magomed Ankalaev to a split draw in a championship bout at UFC 282 before that, so while he’s failed to register a victory in his last two fights, it’s clear the caliber of fighter the Polish veteran is by the company he’s kept and the closeness of those fights.
There is no hotter fighter in the light heavyweight ranks outside of Ulberg, who enters on a division-best seven-fight winning streak. After dispatching Alonzo Menifield in a whirlwind 12-second fight in May, the City Kickboxing man showed his evolution and poise by collecting a unanimous decision victory over Top 10 mainstay Volkan Oezdemir near the end of November in Macau.
With Ankalaev having just claimed the throne and likely destined to square off with Pereira for a second time later this year, Saturday’s co-main event becomes more about maintaining and strengthening position in the hierarchy than securing an immediate championship opportunity. But nothing is ever etched in stone in this sport, so a key win here for either man will put them on the short list of possible title challengers, and if something goes awry down the line, their phone could certainly ring.
Gunnar Nelson vs Kevin Holland
Gunnar Nelson has always been a fan favorite in London and he returns to make his third straight appearances in England’s capital, facing off with Kevin Holland in what could be an electric welterweight fixture.
Now 36 years old, the Icelandic martial artist has earned consecutive victories heading into this one, both at The O2, having most recently submitted Bryan Barberena at UFC 286. He’s 5-1 fighting in London in the UFC, only losing to Edwards, and 10-5 overall inside the Octagon, with all but two of his victories coming inside the distance.
Holland makes his second appearance of the year and fifth start in a little over a year, returning to welterweight in hopes of halting a two-fight skid. Last time out at UFC 311, he was quickly taken down and submitted by Reinier de Ridder, and it will be interesting to see what lessons he took from that contest, as Nelson will likely look to employ the same strategy.
Will the returning Nelson secure a third straight victory or can Holland collect his first welterweight win since the summer of 2023 and get things moving in the right direction again?
Molly McCann vs Alexia Thainara
Liverpool’s Molly McCann squares off with Brazilian Alexia Thainara in this crucial strawweight clash on Saturday’s main card.
McCann shifted to the 115-pound ranks last year and began her campaign with a first-round submission win over Diana Belbita that got everyone excited about her potential in a new weight class. Unfortunately, she was unable to sustain that success, dropping a unanimous decision to Bruna Brasil at UFC 304 in Manchester to fall to just 1-3 in her last four UFC starts.
The 27-year-old Thainara makes her promotional debut here on short notice, stepping in for compatriot Istela Nunes. A unanimous decision win over Dana White’s Contender Series last season punched her ticket to the Octagon, and now the Ribas Family representative gets a high-profile assignment for her first foray into the UFC cage.
The shift in opponents to a promotional newcomer ratchets up the focus on McCann heading into this one, as the veteran is coming off a setback and looking to avoid a 1-4 run over her last five fights. It will be interesting to see how Thainara opts to approach this one, and where both her nerves and conditioning are at as she competes on the biggest stage in the sport for the first time, in hostile territory no less.
Jordan Vucenic vs Chris Duncan
It’s England versus Scotland in this lightweight pairing, as Jordan Vucenic makes his sophomore appearance in the Octagon opposite Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) grad Chris Duncan.
A former Cage Warriors featherweight champ, Vucenic made his promotional debut on short notice last summer in Abu Dhabi, dropping a competitive decision to Guram Kutateladze. The loss snapped a four-fight winning streak (and finishing streak) for “The Epidemic,” who rose to prominence on the UK scene as part of a standout triptych with Paul Hughes and Morgan Charriere.
Duncan punched his ticket to the UFC in his second DWCS appearance, and has gone 3-1 to start his time competing inside the Octagon. Last time out, he rebounded from a first-round submission loss by collecting one of his own, putting newcomer Bolaji Oki to sleep in the opening bout of the UFC’s annual trip to Paris in September.
No matter how this one plays out, the United Kingdom earns a win, but will it be Vucenic and the Brits celebrating or Duncan and the Scots?
Nathaniel Wood vs Morgan Charriere
Saturday’s main card kicks off with an outstanding featherweight matchup between Nathaniel Wood and the aforementioned Morgan Charriere.
Wood has gone 4-1 since transitioning to the featherweight division at the start of his 2022 campaign, most recently bouncing back from a frustrating loss with a hard-fought win over veteran Daniel Pineda at UFC 304. Now 31 years old and brandishing a 20-6 record overall, 2025 feels like the year where “The Prospect” needs to string together a couple strong outings if he truly wants to make meaningful headway in the 145-pound ranks.
Charriere has gone 2-1 in is first three UFC appearances, sandwiching a split decision loss to Chepe Mariscal between stoppage wins over Manolo Zecchini and Gabriel Miranda on Parisienne soil. Collecting post-fight bonuses in each of those outings underscores the all-action approach “The Last Pirate” brings to the Octagon, and a win over Wood could leave him on the doorstep of the Top 15 heading into the second quarter of this year’s UFC schedule.
Featherweight feels like it’s on the cusp of major changes, with Ilia Topuria having vacated the title and several rankings fixtures getting up in age. There is a great deal at stake in this one for each man, and it should result in the main card opening with an absolute barnburner on Saturday.
Preliminary Card Pairings
Jai Herbert vs Chris Padilla
The preliminary card wraps in the lightweight division, as local favorite Jai Herbert faces off with Chris Padilla.
A native of Wolverhampton, Herbert has made four UFC appearances in London, going 1-2-1 over that stretch, but enters Saturday’s contest off a strong effort against Rolando Bedoya last summer. Padilla made an immediate impact as a rookie in the UFC last year, registering consecutive first-round stoppage wins over James Llontop and Rongzhu to push his overall winning streak to five.
Lone’er Kavanagh vs Felipe dos Santos
Highly regarded flyweight prospects clash here as Lone’er Kavanagh and Felipe dos Santos share the cage.
After kicking off Season 8 of Dana White’s Contender Series by detonating a neutron bomb on the chin of An Tuan Ho, Kavanagh picked up his first UFC victory in November, out-hustling another Chute Boxe Diego Lima product, Jose Ochoa. The 24-year-old dos Santos looks to avenge his teammate’s defeat and get himself back into the win column here, after a somewhat lethargic effort against Andre Lima last time out.
Marcin Tybura vs Mick Parkin
Ranked heavyweights Marcin Tybura and Mick Parkin clash in this critical preliminary card pairing on Saturday evening in London.
A tenured member of the Top 15, the 39-year-old Tybura enters off a second-round stoppage win over Jhonata Diniz at UFC 309 and returns to The O2 Arena looking to further cement his standing in the heavyweight pecking order. A member of the DWCS Class of ’22, Parkin has gone 4-0 to begin his UFC journey, forcing his way into the rankings following a first-round knockout win over Lukasz Brzeski last summer in Manchester.
Christian Leroy Duncan vs Andrey Pulyaev
Former Cage Warriors champ Christian Leroy Duncan hopes a return to familiar surroundings brings a return to the win column as he welcomes Andrey Pulyaev to the UFC for the first time.
“CLD” touched down in the UFC with an unbeaten record and a ton of hype as a potential future contender in the middleweight division, but has managed just a 3-2 mark over his first five starts. Pulyaev earned his place on the roster with a unanimous decision win over Liam Anderson last season on Dana White’s Contender Series that extended his winning streak to five and his record to 9-2 heading into his promotional debut here.
Shauna Bannon vs Puja Tomar
Ireland’s Shauna Bannon and India’s Puja Tomar collide in this international strawweight pairing.
After dropping her promotional debut, Bannon picked up her first UFC victory last summer at UFC 304, edging out short-notice replacement Alice Ardelean. Tomar also landed on the happy side of a split decision verdict in her most recent appearance, getting the nod over Rayanne dos Santos on her first Octagon appearance.
Nathan Fletcher vs Caolan Loughran
TUF alum Nathan Fletcher returns home to face off with Irishman Caolan Loughran in an intriguing bantamweight matchup early in the weekend’s slate.
Fletcher’s toughness in the TUF house earned him a chance to compete inside the Octagon, and the Next Generation MMA man made the most of it back in September, submitting fellow TUF 32 contestant Zygymantas Ramaska in the second round to collect his third straight win. Loughran, a former Cage Warriors bantamweight titleholder, has gone 1-2 to begin his UFC tenure, landing on the wrong side of the cards in competitive fights with Taylor Lapilus and Jake Hadley, while emerging victorious in a bout with Angel Pacheco in between.
Guram Kutateladze vs Kaue Fernandes
Saturday’s action gets underway in the lightweight division, as Guram Kutateladze and Kaue Fernandes lock horns inside the Octagon.
A tantalizing talent in the 155-pound ranks who debuted with a split decision win over Mateusz Gamrot, Kutateladze looks to build on his August win over Vucenic and take a big step forward in the division by picking up his third UFC victory here. The 29-year-old Nova Uniao product Fernandes has split his first two appearances inside the Octagon, dropping a decision to Marc Diakiese before rebounding with a first-round stoppage win over Mohammad Yahya last time out.
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