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Fight By Fight Preview | UFC London
Dissecting The Lineup For UFC Fight Night: Evloev vs Murphy As The UFC Makes Its Annual Trek To The O2 In London
By E. Spencer Kyte
For the second consecutive year and sixth time since the pandemic, the UFC makes a transatlantic journey to the shores of the Thames for a Fight Night event at The O2 Arena in London.
Headlined by a critical featherweight pairing and featuring a strong mix of established UK talents and emerging names from across the globe, Saturday’s fight card is sure to be a raucous good time, just as each venture across the pond has been. So get yourself a cuppa and some biscuits, sit back, and enjoy this advanced look at the action set to hit the Octagon this weekend.
Cheers!
Main Event: Movsar Evloev vs Lerone Murphy
The next challenger for the featherweight title could very well be decided on Saturday night as top contenders Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy go head-to-head in a battle of unbeatens.
Sporting a 9-0 record in the UFC and 19-0 mark overall, Evloev has been in contention for the last couple of years and arrives in London having beaten Dan Ige, Diego Lopes, Arnold Allen, and Aljamain Sterling in successful fights. The 32-year-old Russian is a decision machine, but his skills are elite, his resume is impeccable, and if he reaches 10-0 in the Octagon and 20-0 for his career on Saturday, it will be hard to deny him a shot at gold later this year.
Murphy similarly enters on a nine-fight winning streak in the UFC after fighting Zubaira Tukhugov to a draw in his promotional debut back at UFC 242. The Manchester man is coming off a highlight reel finish of Aaron Pico last summer and would have an even more compelling case for a championship opportunity if he were to bounce Evloev from the ranks of the unbeaten this weekend.
This is one of the best non-title headliners in quite some time; a matchup between the No. 1 and No. 3 contenders in a loaded weight class, both of whom are undefeated and each of whom various people felt merited the chance to face Alexander Volkanovski earlier this year when Diego Lopes got his second kick at the can. Being passed over in that instance should have lit a fire under both of these typically mild-mannered men, and it won’t be surprising if we see both come out looking to leave no doubts about what comes next after a victory.
Additional Main Card Matchups
Co-Main Event: Luke Riley vs Michael Aswell Jr.
Unbeaten Liverpool featherweight Luke Riley gets an immediate chance to shine with a co-main event assignment in London opposite Michael Aswell Jr.
Perfect through his first dozen fights, Riley, who trains alongside Paddy Pimblett, Nathan Fletcher, and fellow UFC London combatant Shem Rock, touched down in the UFC with plenty of hype following a clean run to start his career under the Cage Warriors banner. After a tentative first five minutes in the Octagon last November, Riley showed why so many are intrigued by his upside, dropping and finishing Bogdan Grad just 30 seconds into the middle stanza in Qatar.
Aswell Jr. dropped a split decision to Grad in a terrific fight on Season 8 of Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) and then was game in a loss to Bolaji Oki in his short-notice debut up a division. He returned to featherweight with a full camp in October and showed out, stopping Lucas Almeida in under two minutes.
Both hopefuls come from good camps — Aswell Jr. trains with flyweight champ Joshua Van — and showed promise while collecting their initial UFC victories. Now they clash in the spotlight in London, and it’ll be interesting to see how things play out.
Michael “Venom” Page vs Sam Patterson
One of the most established names in British MMA takes on one of the collective’s top dark horses as Michael “Venom” Page faces off with Sam Patterson.
“MVP” has been his elusive, efficient self in his three UFC wins, sticking and moving while frustrating Kevin Holland, Shara Magomedov, and Jared Cannonier. Though he turns 39 next month, the karate stylist has shown he still has plenty of offer at this level and across two weight classes and should serve as a stern test for the ascending DWCS grad here.
Few in recent memory have benefitted from a division switch more than Patterson. After getting knocked out quickly in his promotional debut at lightweight, the towering Team Crossface representative relocated to welterweight and hasn’t looked back, recording four straight first-round stoppage wins to rise to the doorstep of the Top 15.
Can “MVP” halt Patterson’s run and earn a third straight victory or will the 29-year-old finisher make it five-in-a-row with another impressive finish?
Iwo Baraniewski vs Austen Lane
Poland’s Iwo Baraniewski announced his presence as a person of interest in the light heavyweight division in his promotional debut last December, and now he welcomes long-time heavyweight Austen Lane to the fold.
For a judoka, Baraniewski sure has some hands, having needed just 20 seconds to stop Mahamed Aly with an overhand right to earn his contract last season on Dana White’s Contender Series before ending his 90-second slobberknocker against Ibo Aslan at UFC 323 in similar fashion. Unbeaten in seven fights without seeing the second round, the 27-year-old is one of the more exciting additions to the 205-pound ranks in a few years.
A mountain of a man at six-foot-six, Lane was a fifth-round pick in the 2010 NFL draft as a defensive lineman and spent his first 20 pro fights competing at heavyweight. He flashed a ton of power on his way to the UFC while struggling to find success inside the Octagon, but if he can get down to 205 pounds without issue, Lane could be an intriguing add to the division.
This feels like one of those contests where you know it’s going to be chaotic and end in a finish, so make sure you’re locked in from the word “Go” or else you might miss something special.
Roman Dolidze vs Christian Leroy Duncan
Saturday’s main card litmus test comes in the middleweight division as Top 15 mainstay Roman Dolidze battles ascending Brit Christian Leroy Duncan.
Currently residing at No. 11 in the divisional ranks, Dolidze enters off a loss to “Fluffy” Hernandez but had won three straight before that. He’s a quality grappler who prefers to throw hands and brings a considerable edge in experience into this one, having logged more UFC wins (9) than “CLD” has appearances (6) to date.
Duncan is a great example of how time reshapes the way we think about athletes, as his loss to Gregory Rodrigues at UFC 304 dropped him to a middling 2-2 inside the Octagon, but less than two years later, that loss stands as his only setback over his last six appearances. In each of his last two outings, the Mark Weir protégé has collected stoppage wins via spinning attacks, returning to the dynamic form he showed during his Cage Warriors days.
Dolidze is a tough out and the kind of burly, physical competitor that could give Duncan fits. That being said, the streaking 30-year-old from Gloucester seems to have found his footing and just might be ready to make a real run towards the top of the division.
Kurtis Campbell vs Danny Silva
Dana White’s Contender Series grads collide in the main card opener as newcomer Kurtis Campbell faces off with Danny Silva.
The charismatic and engaging Campbell pushed his record to 8-0 with a first-round stoppage win over Demba Seck last season on the annual talent search series. He went 8-1 as an amateur, winning his last seven, and has collected finishes in all but one of his wins thus far, making him someone to pay close attention to heading into his Octagon debut in London this weekend.
Silva earned his place on the roster a couple of years earlier than Campbell and then landed on the happy side of split decision verdicts in each of his first two outings. He dropped a competitive — some would say “debated” — decision to Argentine standout Kevin Vallejos last time out and is the kind of game fighter that should push Campbell right out of the chute.
In this battle of featherweight cats, will “The Pink Panther” make his debut a successful one, or can “El Puma” spoil the party in London?
Preliminary Card Pairings
Mason Jones vs Axel Sola
The prelims wrap with a fascinating pairing in the lightweight division as local favorite Mason Jones takes on undefeated Frenchman Axel Sosa.
Jones had two impressive runs under the Cage Warriors shingle and has started his second stint with the UFC on a strong note, earning consecutive wins over Jeremy Stephens and Bolaji Oki to push his overall winning streak to six. After a successful reign as Ares FC lightweight champ, Sosa made his Octagon debut last September in Paris, earning a third-round stoppage win over game Irishman Rhys McKee to move to 10-0-1 for his career.
Nathaniel Wood vs Losene Keita
Tenured Londoner Nathaniel Wood gets a home game this weekend as he welcomes Losene Keita to the UFC.
Now 32 years old and in his eighth year with the promotion, Wood enters on a three-fight winning streak, having gone 6-1 since moving to the featherweight ranks, most recently halting the success of promising DWCS grad Jose Miguel Delgado. A two-division champ with Oktagon MMA, Keita was scheduled to make his promotional debut last September in Paris before a weight miss scuttled his bout with Patricio Pitbull. Riding a five-fight winning streak and brandishing a 16-1-1 record overall, the 28-year-old “Black Panther” is set to try again here.
Mario Pinto vs Felipe Franco
One of several highly touted prospects from Season 8 of Dana White’s Contender Series, Mario Pinto starts his second year on the roster with a fight in his adopted hometown of London as he welcomes Felipe Franco to the Octagon for the first time.
Pinto, who turned 29 on Sunday, scored second-round stoppage wins over Austen Lane and Jhonata Diniz last year, advancing to 11-0 in the process and establishing himself as one of the top young heavyweight talents to arrive in the UFC in quite some time. Franco faltered that fall in his own DWCS appearance, but earned the call to replace Mick Parkin here after posting consecutive first-round stoppage wins, the second of which came at the start of last month.
Mantas Kondratavicius vs Antonio Trocoli
Fresh off a contract-winning business trip to Las Vegas in September, Mantas Kontratavicius makes his promotional debut on Saturday against fellow DWCS alum Antonio Trocoli.
The 26-year-old from Lithuania needed just 66 seconds to dispatch Dani Barbir and land a spot on the roster, and with eight wins in nine fights and a 100-percent finishing rate, he’s one to keep tabs on in the middleweight division. Trocoli has never been able to find his footing in the UFC, having dropped three straight, the last two by quick first-round submission.
Louie Sutherland vs Brando Pericic
Big boys that reside right around the top of the divisional limit meet in this heavyweight clash as London-based Louie Sutherland faces off with Brando Pericic.
A former rugby professional and teammate of rising star Mario Pinto, Sutherland went 10-3 with eight finishes on the regional scene before getting the call to the Octagon, where he ran afoul of “The Clean Monster” Valter Walker and his signature heel hook in his debut. Representing City Kickboxing, the 31-year-old Pericic made the most of his first foray into the UFC cage, earning a first-round stoppage win over Elisha Ellison in Perth last September to keep his 100-percent finishing rate intact.
Shem Rock vs Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady
Shem Rock makes his second trip into the Octagon this weekend, facing off with DWCS alum Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady.
Another member of the Next Gen MMA crew from Liverpool, Rock dropped a decision to Nurullo Aliev in his debut last November, ending a seven-fight unbeaten streak. Saturday is also Al-Selwady’s second UFC appearance, though the DWCS Class of ’23 grad hasn’t competed since losing his promotional debut to Loik Radzhabov two years ago.
Shanelle Dyer vs Ravena Oliveira
Newcomer Shanelle Dyer gets a home game for her debut as she competes in London against Brazil’s Ravena Oliveira.
Dyer dropped a competitive decision to Carol Foro last season on Dana White’s Contender Series but impressed the UFC CEO enough to earn a contract. She’s won six straight with five finishes prior to her Las Vegas sojourn and will look to restart a similar run here as she takes on Oliveira, who ended a lengthy absence with a loss to Stephanie Luciano last October in Vancouver.
Melissa Mullins vs Luana Carolina
Bantamweights open the show at The O2 as Melissa Mullins takes on Luana Carolina.
A 34-year-old “all-rounder” from Coventry, Mullins has gone 2-2 through her first four UFC appearances, including a dominant showing against Klaudia Sygula two fights back. Carolina had her three-fight winning streak snapped last time out by Michelle Montague in her return to the bantamweight division, and seeks her first win at 135 pounds since earning her contract in the summer of 2018.
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