The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will make a return to England in March 2020 for a night of high-quality MMA action from the O2 Arena in London. The event is due to take place on the 21st March and was officially announced in a press release by the leading company in MMA.
It will mark the first time that a UFC event has been held in the English capital since the 2018 event, which was also in March. During that event, Jorge Masvidal spectacularly knocked out Darren Till in the second round. That win springboarded Masvidal to have one of the best year’s in MMA this calendar year.
In the statement, the UFC senior vice president, David Shaw said: “The United Kingdom and Ireland is established as one of our flagship markets in Europe. We’re delighted to be returning to London, our fans are fantastic and have always shown up in their thousands to support their local heroes.”
There were no official bouts mentioned in that statement, but there is likely to be a lot of homegrown talent on the bill when the fights are announced over the next couple of months. The number of English names on the card will likely encourage more fans to watch the UFC on a weekly basis, as the popularity across the pond continues to accelerate.
Potential Fights For London
Till is one of the fighters that will likely be on the card when it is announced, and he will be hopeful of avenging his loss on home soil in 2019. He will be high on confidence after defeating Kevin Gastelum on his middleweight debut in early November. Meanwhile, Leon Edwards is another name that we could see take to the Octagon in March, as is Nathaniel Wood.
Wood is enjoying an excellent start to his MMA career as he has won his first three bouts to this point; with all of them coming by submission. The UFC is stacked with promising stars from the UK, and all of them will be hopeful of making the show their own.
Whittaker Calls Out Till
One fight that may gain more attention more than most is the potential showdown between Robert Whittaker and Till. That will certainly have an impression on home soil, and with their rivalry due to be settled, there may not be a better place to settle it.
Whittaker lost his middleweight title to Israel Adesanya in October, but he remains one of the most dangerous men in the UFC. Prior to that loss, he had one his previous eight, and that included two wins over Yoel Romero. Many expected Whittaker to continue to ride on that momentum to become one of the most feared UFC champions of all-time.
However, the loss to Adesanya has certainly knocked him back. He has quickly come out and called out Till for the event in London. He was asked about Till, and he responded saying: “That’s the fight I’m currently interested in. Plus I’ve never been to Europe before, so what better reason to go?” It could be a fight for the ages.
