Curtis Blaydes is currently the "toughest fight available" in the heavyweight division, says Britain's Tom Aspinall.

A win for either fighter in tonight's main event would move them a step closer to a heavyweight title shot.

"He's [the toughest stylistically] because he's a great wrestler," Aspinall told BBC Sport.

"But not just that, he does something very well that only educated eyes can see - he makes you think he's going to take you down, but then does his stand-up stuff and vice versa.

"His top control is amazing - he is by far the best I've fought so far."

If you have been affected by the issues raised, help and support is available via BBC Action Line.

This was no classic but Jack Hermansson did enough to claim the win and take his record to 23-7.

The Swede apologises to the London crowd and says it was down to Chris Curtis coming in at short notice after Liverpool's Darren Till had to withdraw through injury. Hermansson adds that the Till fight could still happen though.

Here's Tom Aspinall arriving at the O2 Arena tonight.

UFC president Dana White may not be in town tonight but Belal Muhammad, Sean O'Malley and Charles Oliveira were in London this week to promote UFC 280, with all fighting at the Abu Dhabi , externalevent on 22 October. And here's who they are backing for tonight's headliner.

The co-main event is about to head into the third round, and while we wait for that to finish, here's an update on Bellator 283 on Friday.

Jason Jackson edged closer to a welterweight title shot while lightweight Tofiq Musayev pulled off a stunning 27-second knockout.

Jackson, 31, wrestled and smothered his way to a unanimous decision over Brazilian Douglas Lima.

The American was booed by the crowd for his tactics, but believes he now deserves a title shot, saying: "If they come to me with a fight and it's not the title, it better have a lot of money."

Lima slipped to his fourth defeat in a row, his 11th loss overall. The 34-year-old is a two-time welterweight champion but is facing an uncertain future after a career spanning 16 years.

Tom Aspinall's impressive start to life in the UFC has seen him swiftly rise up the heavyweight rankings. He's at six heading into tonight's showdown with the 31-year-old Curtis Blaydes, who has been with the UFC since 2016 and is currently ranked fourth.

Paul Battison
BBC Sport at the 02 Arena

Stood about 10 feet away from me at cage-side is British UFC welterweight Leon Edwards.

Edwards was in his team-mate Jai Herbert's corner tonight for his victory over Kyle Nelson on the prelims.

The 30-year-old fights for the title on 20 August against Kamaru Usman, at UFC 278 in Salt Lake City.

Edwards answered a few questions in the media room following Herbert's win tonight, and said he's already starting to get recognised around his home town Birmingham a bit more.

His last defeat was against Usman in 2015 but should Edwards avenge that loss next month, he will follow Michael Bisping in becoming only the second British UFC champion in history.

READ MORE: Edwards targets becoming UK's first 'home-grown UFC champion'

English featherweight Lerone Murphy is itching to get back in the octagon after beating Makwan Amirkhani last October.

And this was before those thrilling finishes by Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann!

How many of you are feeling this pumped right now?

Jake Paul has spoken.

I mean, I knew Tom Aspinall was still unbeaten in the UFC, winning all five fights since joining the promotion in 2020, but this stat blew my mind.

He's the fastest fighter to gain five wins in UFC history having spent just 14 minutes and 24 seconds in the octagon so far.

And here's Tom telling us about his life-changing journey to becoming a UFC headliner.

Since winning as a headliner in March and with a few fake accounts knocking about, Tom Aspinall joined the world of Twitter at the start of this month, which is nice as he can tell us about the fun stuff he gets up to outside of the octagon, like popping to his local supermarket with us lot...

Paddy Pimblett does it again in front of his home crowd.

He says he'll fight once more this year... wonder where that will be? *eyes emoji*

Warning: This post contains a reference to suicide

When Paddy arrived at the O2 he wore a t-shirt to commemorate his friend Ricky, who committed suicide two days ago, and Molly McCann wore one featuring a young fan Lee, who they became friends with before he recently died from leukaemia.

Paddy has just paid tribute to them both, before urging men to seek help and speak out if they are suffering from any mental health issues.

"I want to dedicate this fight to little baby Lee, he's a little warrior, more of a fighter than any of us will ever be," he said.

"I woke up on Friday morning at 4am to a message that one of my friends had [died]. So Ricky lad, that’s for you.

"There's a stigma in this world that men can't talk. Listen, if you’re a man, please speak to someone, speak to anyone. I'd rather my mate cry on my shoulder than go to his funeral next week."

If you have been affected by the issues raised, help and support is available via BBC Action Line.

We'll have some reaction from Paddy shortly but first, here's the men facing off in tonight's co-main event.

Image source, BBC Sport/Getty

Paddy Pimblett picks up from where he left off in round one as he again takes Jordan Leavitt's back after a knee to the head.

He gets both legs round him and, crucially, has Leavitt's right arm wrapped up too. Paddy then gets the American in a rear-naked choke and forces the stoppage.

It's only Leavitt's second defeat and the first time he's been stopped.

Image source, Getty Images