UFC Fight Night Takeaways – Tom Aspinall’s Future is Bright and Arnold Allen Demonstrates Featherweight Depth

LONDON – After his submission victory in the main event of the UFC Fight Night card on Saturday, Tom Aspinall told me that he is facing Alexander Volkov, because of the massive respect he has for Volkov’s endurance. And he still put Volkov away in the first round, a night of memorable completion with a key victory for the future of the aspinals in the heavyweight division.

UFC President Dana White always says – if a fighter wants to be a star, they have to win. That is above all. And of course he’s right. Profit is important. But many guys win, not all of them become stars.

Here’s why Aspinall might be. He is a finisher. He has never seen a third round in his career. He is also well spoken. He is sympathetic. And if he’s not a traditional trash talker, Aspinall will take care of his fights organically.

Finally, fighting from a region where you have a built-in fan base does not hurt. Most of White’s post-show news conference on Saturday praised the English MMA scene and soon promised a return. If Aspinall continues to win and this country includes what he does, it will contribute to a significant star potential for the future. –Brett Okamoto

Arnold Allen and the Featherweights are the fun division in the UFC

I’ve felt a bit like this for a while. Everyone always wants to pump the lightweights, and I get it. Lightweight is stacked and it has recently been filled with some of the biggest draws in the sport. Conor McGregor. Khabib Nurmagomedov. Nate Diaz. Full of stars. Bantam weight is also phenomenal. In my opinion, Petr Yan is on the run for the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

But on Saturday, the Allen-Hooker fight stood out. Allen is criminally overzealous because he’s not hard on Mic and has not fought on high profile spots – but he’s an exceptional talent. With a victory of nine fights, who knows? Could he be a top-three guy in the division? We just do not yet have the right circumstances to find out. Max Holloway is still running. See what Calvin Kattar did in his last performance. Featherweight is the worst division in the UFC right now. – Okamoto

One of the best postfight memories I have is after a UFC Fight Night event in June 2019 in Greenville, South Carolina. After the fights were over, many of the fighters and their teams and UFC staff stopped at a rooftop bar on Main Street. McCann was among those present.

At one point in the night, a replay of the event was shown on the screens, and McCann’s fight came up. McCann started to go wild, watching Ariane Lipski defeat by decision. The whole bar was watching McCann with himself on screen. It was a great moment – and she delivered another Saturday with her highlight-reel spinning elbow knockout from Luana Carolina.

McCann’s love for her craft is so evident. She probably enjoys it more than anyone on the list. After securing the knockout, McCann made a sprint victory around the perimeter of the Octagon to the delight of fans at the O2 in London, and finished it off by embracing Dana White and somehow wearing a UFC belt. produced thin air. a lot. It was classic meatball Molly.

Will McCann ever achieve the title of Challenger status? Who knows if she’ll ever get there. McCann has had success in the UFC, but she still has a long way to go before she can break into that kind of opportunity. But will meatball Molly bring the fun every time? That’s guaranteed. – Okamoto

Ilia Topuria lives up to the hype, stands up for the Grudge match

Saturday was not the first fight Topuria took part in this week. A few days ago, Topuria and Paddy Pimblett were spotted at the Fighter Hotel in London. Pimblett threw a bottle of hand sanitizer at Topuria before Topuria, his team and Pimblett were separated. Topuria took the initiative because of negative things Pimblett has said about the Republic of Georgia – where Topuria has roots – on Twitter in recent months.

Pimblett was also on the UFC London map, but not against Topuria. Topuria was a heavy prefight favorite, with Pimblett’s English compatriot Jai Herbert. But Topuria was also moved to lightweight featherweight, in hostile territory and perhaps a little occupied by the Pimblett situation. These things manifested in the first round, as well as a left high kick by Herbert, who almost turned off Topuria’s lights.

But after voting for the majority of the first five minutes, something clicked in Topuria in the second round. He destroyed Herbert, who might have become a little greedy with his aggressive combinations, with a massive overriding right to put him to sleep. The result was a clean knockout for Topuria, which now has three straight violent KOs.

After the victory, he did not surprisingly call out Pimblett. Born in Germany and living and training in Spain, Topuria is probably still best suited for featherweight. But who does not want to see the pimple against Topuria in a battle of perspectives that do not stand out? – Marc Raimondi

Jack Shore is as good as any British UFC prospect

With all due respect to All-Action Paddy Pimblett. Muhammad Mokaev, 21, appears to be a future champion. Tom Aspinall is only 28 years old. Great Britain has some excellent prospects in the UFC and beyond.

And Jack Shore is right with them all.

Shore, who is from Wales, did not get the main event or even the main card bill Saturday at UFC London, but the boy did give him a performance. Against the over-tough Timur Valiev, Shore survived some dangerously early moments to work his excellent wrestler – and he even knocked Valiev down several times in the third round with his boxing skills.

Shore is now 16-0 with five straight UFC wins. He is only 27 years old. The UFC bantamweight division is incredibly stacked at the top, and also deep. But when we talk about it from here on out, let’s start throwing Shore into the mix as one to watch. He should be prepared for a big step in the competition next, perhaps a fight with someone like Ricky Simon or Umar Nurmagomedov.

Shore’s wrestling is what helped him get this far, but the improvement he made with his hands and foundations was remarkable against Valiev. These skills can take him a long way, even in a brutally competitive division. – Raimondi