UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall

UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall
UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall
	The poster for UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall
Information
Promotion	Ultimate Fighting Championship
Date	March 19, 2022
Venue	The O2 Arena
City	London, England
Attendance	17,081
Total gate	$4,500,000
Event chronology

UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall (also known as UFC Fight Night 204 and UFC on ESPN+ 62) was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 19, 2022 at The O₂ Arena in London, England.^[2]

Background

The event was the first in London since UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal in March 2019. The UFC was expected to return to the city in March 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards and in September 2021 at UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till, but the first event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the latter was relocated to Las Vegas.^[2]

A heavyweight bout between former Bellator Heavyweight World Champion Alexander Volkov and Tom Aspinall headlined the event.^[3] Aspinall was originally expected to face Shamil Abdurakhimov, but after he was pulled in favor of the main event spot, Abdurakhimov was rescheduled against Sergei Pavlovich instead.^[4]^[5]

A bantamweight bout between Jack Shore and Umar Nurmagomedov was scheduled for the event.^[6] However, Nurmagomedov was removed from the bout due to undisclosed reasons and replaced by Timur Valiev.^[7]

A flyweight bout between Jake Hadley and Francisco Figueiredo was scheduled for the event.^[8] However, Figueiredo withdrew from the event due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Allan Nascimento.^[9] Hadley eventually had to pull out due to injury and the bout was scrapped.^[10] They were later rescheduled to meet at UFC Fight Night 209.^[11]

A lightweight bout between Jai Herbert and Mike Davis was scheduled for the event.^[12] However, Davis withdrew from the bout for personal reasons and was replaced by Ilia Topuria.^[13]

Cláudio Silva was expected to face Gunnar Nelson in a welterweight bout.^[14] However, Silva pulled out in early March due to a knee injury.^[15] He was replaced by Takashi Sato.^[16]

A bantamweight bout between Liudvik Sholinian and Nathaniel Wood was scheduled for this event.^[17] However, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sholinian was unable to leave Ukraine or train properly, so he was replaced by Vince Morales.^[18]^[19] In turn, just days before the event, Morales withdrew due to illness.^[20] The pairing will be rescheduled for a future event.^[21]

Results

Main card (ESPN+)
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Heavyweight	Tom Aspinall	def.	Alexander Volkov	Submission (straight armbar)	1	3:45
Featherweight	Arnold Allen	def.	Dan Hooker	TKO (punches and elbows)	1	2:33
Lightweight	Paddy Pimblett	def.	Kazula Vargas	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	3:50
Welterweight	Gunnar Nelson	def.	Takashi Sato	Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–26, 30–26)	3	5:00
Women's Flyweight	Molly McCann	def.	Luana Carolina	KO (spinning back elbow)	3	1:52
Lightweight	Ilia Topuria	def.	Jai Herbert	KO (punches)	2	1:07
Preliminary card (ESPN+)
Featherweight	Makwan Amirkhani	def.	Mike Grundy	Technical Submission (anaconda choke)	1	0:57
Heavyweight	Sergei Pavlovich	def.	Shamil Abdurakhimov	TKO (punches)	1	4:03
Light Heavyweight	Paul Craig	def.	Nikita Krylov	Submission (triangle choke)	1	3:57
Bantamweight	Jack Shore	def.	Timur Valiev	Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29-28, 29–27)	3	5:00
Women's Strawweight	Elise Reed	def.	Cory McKenna	Decision (split) (27–30, 29–28, 29–28)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Muhammad Mokaev	def.	Cody Durden	Submission (guillotine choke)	1	0:58

^[22]

Bonus awards

The following fighters received $50,000.^[23] While the UFC usually gives out four bonus awards for each event, a record of nine post-fight bonuses were given out to each fighter who secured a finish.^[24]

Fight of the Night: No bonus awarded.
Performance of the Night: Tom Aspinall, Arnold Allen, Paddy Pimblett, Molly McCann, Ilia Topuria, Makwan Amirkhani, Sergei Pavlovich, Paul Craig, and Muhammad Mokaev

Aftermath

The event was widely regarded by the MMA media as the best event of 2022.^[25]^[26]^[27]^[28]

References

^ ^a ^b Mike Bohn (20 March 2022). "UFC Fight Night 204 post-event facts: Molly McCann's elbow, other finishes enter record books". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
^ ^a ^b Farah Hannoun (19 January 2022). "UFC officially announces return to London for March 19 event". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
^ "Alexander Volkov vs. Tom Aspinall headlines UFC's March return to London". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. 20 January 2022. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^ Alex Behunin (2 November 2021). "Tom Aspinall vs. Shamil Abdurakhimov set for March 19 UFC event". cagesidepress.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
^ Marcel Dorff (21 January 2022). "Pavlovich replaces Aspinall at UFC London". eurosport.nl. Retrieved 21 January 2022. (in Dutch)
^ Alex Behunin (18 November 2021). "Jack Shore vs. Umar Nurmagomedov set for March 19 UFC event". cagesidepress.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
^ Mike Bohn (26 December 2021). "Umar Nurmagomedov out, Timur Valiev meets Jack Shore at UFC Fight Night in March". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
^ Marcel Dorff (3 December 2021). "Two Flyweight fights added to targeted "UFC London" card on March 19". mmadna.nl. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022. (in Dutch)
^ Marcel Dorff (14 January 2022). "Jake Hadley's new opponent: Allan Nascimento". eurosport.nl. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022. (in Dutch)
^ Cauley Quilty (5 February 2022). "Jake Hadley vs Allan Nascimento off UFC London". vmtv.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
^ Marcel Dorff (29 March 2022). "UFC Hadley vs. Nascimento booked again, this time for May 14th". eurosport.nl. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022. (in Dutch)
^ Farah Hannoun (4 February 2022). "Mike Davis returns against Jai Herbert at UFC London". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
^ Farah Hannoun (12 February 2022). "Mike Davis isn't facing Jai Herbert at UFC London because 'it just doesn't make sense to take the fight'". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
^ Farah Hannoun (24 January 2022). "Gunnar Nelson returns against Claudio Silva at UFC London in March". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
^ Guilherme Cruz (4 March 2022). "Claudio Silva injured, out of UFC London fight with Gunnar Nelson". mmafighting.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
^ Damon Martin (7 March 2022). "Gunnar Nelson now expected to face Takashi Sato at UFC London card". mmafighting.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
^ Alexander K. Lee (25 January 2022). "Nathaniel Wood vs. Liudvik Sholinian added to UFC London". mmafighting.com. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
^ Andre Khatchaturian (2 March 2022). "Ukrainian-Armenian UFC fighter Liudvik Sholinian shares perilous situation in Kyiv". armenianweekly.com. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
^ Alex Behunin (5 March 2022). "Liudvik Sholinian out, Vince Morales will face Nathaniel Wood at UFC London". cagesidepress.com. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
^ Nolan King (16 March 2022). "Nathaniel Wood in need of UFC Fight Night 204 opponent after Vince Morales withdraws due to illness". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
^ Matthew Wells (17 March 2022). "UFC London: No replacement for Nathaniel Wood, bout against Vince Morales to be rescheduled". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
^ "UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall". Ultimate Fighting Championship. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
^ Dan Hiergesell (19 March 2022). "UFC London bonuses: Every finish on the card receives $50K". mmamania.com. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
^ Matt Erickson (19 March 2022). "UFC Fight Night 204 bonuses: Nine fighters go home with $50,000". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
^ Matthew Petela (25 January 2023). "Combat Press 2022 MMA Awards: Event of the Year – UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall". combatpress.com. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
^ Patrick L. Stumberg (25 December 2022). "UFC/MMA 'Events of the Year' 2022 - Top 5 List". mmamania.com. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
^ "MMA 2022 Year in Review: Event of the Year". cagesidepress.com. 30 December 2022. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
^ Matt Erickson (2 January 2023). "MMA Junkie's 2022 Event of the Year: UFC Fight Night 204, London". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.