UFC London: Results and reaction as Tom Aspinall submits Alexander Volkov in one round

Summary

Englishman Tom Aspinall submits Russia's Alexander Volkov in heavyweight main event
Paddy Pimblett and Arnold Allen produce first-round stoppages
UFC returns to London after a three-year absence
Molly McCann produces KO of the year contender against Luana Carolina
Paul Craig and Jack Shore with big wins on thrilling prelims
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Live Reporting

Paul Battison

Shore earns impressive win over Valievpublished at 20:46 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2022
Wales' Jack Shore continued the impressive start to his UFC career earlier as he secured a unanimous decision win over Timur Valiev.
The 27-year-old won every round on the judges' scorecards, finishing the fight strongly with two knockdowns in the third.
It extends Shore's record professional record to 16-0 with five victories in the UFC.
"I'll fight anybody in the top 15," Shore said afterwards.
We spoke to Shore earlier this week where he called for a UFC event in Wales.
Media caption,
Welsh bantamweight Shore wants a Welsh hosted UFC show
Postpublished at 20:45 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2022
Molly McCann v Luana Carolina
It's been a strong start for Molly McCann who stunned Luana Carolina a couple of times in the first round, going on to land a flurry of punches and forcing the Brazilian to cover up
She's applied much of the pressure so far.
McCann in the octagon!published at 20:40 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2022
Molly McCann is in the octagon and this place has gone nuts. She takes on Brazilian Luana Carolina. Stand by!
Image source, Getty Images
Mokaev has a big fanpublished at 20:36 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2022
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Mokaev submits Durdenpublished at 20:34 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2022
Muhammad Mokaev made his UFC debut earlier tonight and my oh my was it a cracking start to octagon career.
The 21-year-old dropped Cory Durden with a knee in the opening moments and immediately wrapped himself American.
Durden tried to shake off Mokaev with a big slam, but the Englishman was able to sink in a guillotine choke regardless. Durden tapped after 58 seconds.
"I feel amazing. I'm really excited - I showed my striking and then I saw my opportunity and I took it," Mokaev said afterwards.
"It feels amazing to show younger generations what I can do."
Emotion poured out of Mokaev as he celebrated and if you watch his Born to Brawl episode you'll understand why it was such an important moment...
Media caption,
Muhammad Mokaev: The Dagestan refugee's emotional journey to UFC debut
Masvidal knows a thing or two about KOs in Londonpublished at 20:32 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2022
We've just had a huge knockout here from Ilia Topuria, silencing the crowd by finishing Englishman Jai Herbert with a massive right hook.
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A stacked main cardpublished at 20:31 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2022
Where do you start with tonight's card? There are eye-catching fights and potential stories everywhere.
Ilia Topuria kicked things off with a brutal right-hand knockout of Jai Herbert in the second round, which left the Englishman out cold.
He then called out Paddy Pimblett in his post-fight interview after the pair got into a scuffle earlier in the week at the hotel the fighters are staying at.
Elsewhere, Molly McCann will be looking to continue her momentum by beating Luana Carolina.
Pimblett gets the chance to enhance his star power further if he beats Kazula Vargas, and Arnold Allen has the chance to put his name among the top guys at featherweight if he can put Dan Hooker away.
The biggest story of the night however could happen in the main event, where Tom Aspinall takes on Alexander Volkov at heavyweight.
More on Aspinall shortly...
UFC London Main Card:
Alexander Volkov v Tom Aspinall - heavyweight
Arnold Allen v Dan Hooker – featherweight
Paddy Pimblett v Rodrigo Vargas – lightweight
Gunnar Nelson v Takashi Sato – welterweight
Molly McCann v Luana Carolina - flyweight
Jai Herbert v Ilia Topuria – lightweight
Image source, Getty Images
Welcome to UFC Londonpublished at 20:30 Greenwich Mean Time 19 March 2022
For the first time in three years, the UFC is back in the UK.
London is the city, the 02 Arena is the venue and up to 20,000 fans are in attendance to see a card brimming with British talent.
As ring announcer Bruce Buffer would say, it's time...
Image source, BBC Sport