The last time the UFC came to the UK, it ended in bitter disappointment for Leon Edwards as he lost his UFC Welterweight title against Belal Muhammad in Manchester back in July 2024.
Edwards has also previously won a title fight in the UK as he defended his title against Kamaru Usman almost exactly two years prior to the latest instalment of UFC in London.
The last time the UFC came to the UK for a Fight Night event was July 2023. Now, in March 2025, Leon Edwards headlines against Sean Brady as he looks to bounce back from losing his title and get straight back into the mix in the 170lb division.
With this being a Fight Night event, there was no Tom Aspinall or Paddy Pimblett (the latter preparing for a blockbuster bout with Michael Chandler as Co-Main at UFC 314).
However, there were plenty of recognisable prospects, as well as top international names on show throughout the prelims and main card.
Main Card:
Nathaniel Wood (20-6) v Morgan Charierre (20-10-1) - Men's Featherweight Bout:
Heading into this fight on a three fight win streak, London's own Nathaniel Wood was not far from threatening the top 15 rankings, and a win against a fellow former Cage Warriors champion in Frenchman Morgan Charriere would elevate him ever closer.
The fight couldn’t have started much better for Wood after he tested Charriere with leg kicks in the early goings before catching and dropping him with a big right hand that looked as though it may spell the end of the fight.
However, the Frenchman showed immense heart as he rode out the ground and pound attempt and managed to escape the guillotine attempt to reverse and get some ground control to end the first round.
Round two was a lot more closely contested, with the two largely standing and boxing at a high level, with plenty of feints, slips and jabs from both fighters.
Charriere managed to land two good elbows in the second half of the second round, to give him hope heading into the third.
However, it was once again Wood's jab and leg kicks that caught the eye in the third round on his way to a dominant decision victory.
Winner by Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3) - Nathaniel Wood
Both Wood and Charriere have tasted Championship gold in Cage Warriors, but it was the Englishman who was a level above in this contest and continues his upward trajectory towards the top 15 at 145lbs.
Jordan Vucenic (13-3) v Chris Duncan (12-2) - Men's Lightweight Bout:
There was yet another former Cage Warriors Champion in action in the second main card bout of the evening as England's Jordan Vucenic aimed to bounce back from defeat on his UFC debut against Scottish former Contender's Series winner Chris Duncan.
It was Duncan who immediately asserted himself in the fight, dropping Vucenic in the opening 90 seconds with a right-leg kick and straight right-hand combination.
Off the back of this, Duncan immediately manufactured a submission attempt, which Vucenic was able to avert.
This, however, only delayed the inevitable as after a second round takedown, Vucenic was caught in a guillotine submission and had no choice but to tap.
Winner by 2nd Round Submission - Chris Duncan
Despite his prior reputation, back-to-back defeats to start his UFC career is a disastrous outcome for Jordan Vucenic.
Duncan meanwhile improves his UFC record to 4-1.
'Meatball' Molly McCann (14-7) v Alexia Thainara (11-1) - Strawweight Bout:
Liverpool's Molly McCann won the hearts of British UFC fans when the company brought their show back across the pond after a three year hiatus in 2022.
With her two brutal stoppage wins, including a viral spinning elbow knockout of Luana Carolina, as well as her friendship with fellow 'Scouser' and popular UFC prospect Paddy 'The Baddy Pimblett', McCann quickly became one of the faces of British MMA.
Since then, however, it has been a tough couple of years, with 'Meatball' suffering three defeats from four in the UFC.
Brazil's Alexia Thainara was a late replacement on a week's notice but came into the fight on a winning streak of nine, so this was always going to be a tough assignment for the crowd favourite.
So it proved to be as well, as Thainara scored the early takedown and took the back of McCann in an attempt to lock in the rear naked choke submission. Whilst McCann was able to valiantly fight out of the choke initially, Thainara was able to slip back under the chin and claim the first round submission.
Winner via 1st Round Submission - Alexia Thainara:
An impressive outing from the Brazilian, who silenced the vocal Pro-McCann crowd and put on a dominant display to extend her winning streak to ten.
As for McCann, the manner of her defeat felt very ominous, and so much so, 'Meatball' would go on the mic after the fight to announce her retirement from the UFC at 34-years-old.
Talking to Michael Bisping in the Octagon, McCann stated -
"Tonight, with that performance on a week notice, its not good enough. I'm not coming in here just for a payday off these. The UFC deserves more, I deserve more, and you all deserve more."
Gunnar Nelson (19-5-1) v Kevin Holland (26-13) - Men's Welterweight Bout:
Making his return to the UFC octagon after a two year hiatus, 'The Pride of Iceland' Gunnar Nelson would not come back to a soft touch, as he'd take on the notorious 'Trailblazer' Kevin Holland.
Holland was making his way back down to 170, after struggling with the grappling of the bigger fighters at 185, whilst Nelson was now 36-years-old and coming off a long lay-off.
Gunnar Nelson started the fight well by scoring a double leg takedown, but Holland did well to take the arm and manufacture submission attempts whilst simultaneously landing fist and elbow strikes from his back.
After getting the fight back to the feet, Holland dropped Nelson hard in the final few seconds of the round and landed five or six shots on the ground before the hooter appeared to save the Icelandic fighter.
After walking back to his stool on unsteady legs, Nelson seemed to recover well and spent the majority of the second round shooting for takedowns.
He eventually scored one after three minutes but was able to do little damage as a result, with Holland defending well off his back.
Into the third and final round, Nelson gets another takedown, but this time in the first minute of the round.
However, he is again unable to make Holland pay, and it was the American who was doing the damage with his strikes from the ground, before escaping a late triangle choke attempt.
Winner via Unanimous Decision (29-28 x3) - Kevin Holland:
Holland has proven to be a popular figure wherever he goes, and though Nelson was billed as the home favourite of sorts for this fight, it was the 'Trailblazer' who won over many of the UK fans and scored a deserved win to end a run of four defeats in five.
Back in the win column, Holland stated in his interview that he'll fight anyone at 170 as early as July, and would step in with any striker at 185 'next week'.
Co-Main Event - Jan Blachowicz (29-10-1) v Carlos Ulberg (11-1) - Men's Light Heavyweight Bout:
Former UFC Champion, 'Polish Power' Jan Blachowicz was aiming to bounce back 20 months after his split decision loss to Alex Pereira against one of the most exciting contenders in the sport in New Zealand's Carlos Ulberg.
Now aged 42, Blachowicz was giving away eight years of his youth to Ulberg, and this fight posed what may well be his last chance to get back into the title picture.
With so much on the line, it was expected that these two would go at it, but instead it turned out to be a tentative three round affair.
Each round took on virtually the same pattern, with Blachowicz doing the stalking, but not a lot of throwing, whilst Ulberg was happy to poke out jabs and leg kicks off the back foot.
Whilst it was not the explosive performance we have grown accustom to witnessing from the 'Black Jag', Ulberg did enough to win the fight unanimously on the cards.
Winner via Unanimous Decision (29-28 x3) - Carlos Ulberg:
Whilst it was certainly not the banger that was promised, it was a hugely significant win for Ulberg, who followed up his impressive win over former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir with a win over an immensely respected former champion.
Ulberg will now surely climb the rankings further from No.6, and may well take Blachowicz's spot at No.3 when they are updated in the coming days.
As such, a title shot may not be far away for the Kiwi fighter, who extends his winning streak to eight.
'Polish power' had a lot of fans behind him in the O2, but just couldn't seem to nail down Ulberg and land his offence.
Main Event - Leon Edwards (22-4) v Sean Brady (17-1) - Men's Welterweight Five Round Bout:
After losing his UFC Welterweight title to Belal Muhammad back in July, Leon 'Rocky Edwards' returned to the octagon and was back in the UK to take on American grappling expert Sean Brady.
Edwards had initially been scheduled to fight Australia's Jack Della Maddalena, but as is often the way in the UFC, everything changed in the blink of an eye as Della Maddalena was awarded a title shot against Edwards' former adversary Muhammad, with Brady being drafted in as the replacement on just under a month's notice.
Immediately, this was seen as a bad matchup for the Brit, who, despite showcasing his improved grappling ability in the Kamaru Usman, struggled against the grounded style of Muhammad.
As such, Brady came into the fight as a betting favourite, and although Edwards had the crowd behind him, he was potentially going to have to produce another 'Rocky' moment.
The Fight:
In the opening round, Brady came charging out of his corner to meet Edwards in the centre of the octagon and go toe to toe on the feet.
Both fighters had a small amount of success, before Brady was able to get the takedown in the final minute of the first.
Edwards then got caught off guard at the start of the second, as Brady once again came charging into the middle of the octagon, but this time to shoot for an early takedown.
Whilst the home favourite showed good submission defence, he was still being controlled on the ground, and found himself two rounds down.
Barring a stoppage or 10-8 rounds, Leon Edwards headed into the third knowing he couldn't afford to lose another round.
As such, there was a guttural groan that emanated throughout the arena when he got caught shooting for a takedown of his own, playing the fight right into Sean Brady's hands.
Once again, Edwards did a good job of avoiding a submission, but was taking damage from clubbing blows from Brady in the guard position.
Into the fourth, and the general consensus was that Leon Edwards may need another 'Rocky' moment.
Instead, Brady started the round aggressive on the feet and softened Edwards up for a takedown in the opening minute of the round.
After more minutes of ground control, Sean Brady cinched in the guillotine choke and got the submission, becoming the first fighter to stop Leon Edwards.
Winner via 4th Round Submission - Sean Brady
It was total domination from start to finish from the American, who stretched his winning streak to four and puts himself right in the title frame moving forward.
Brady's relentless waves and variety of attack completely overwhelmed Leon Edwards who, barring mild success on the feet in the first round, never got going.
During fight week Leon cut a figure with a weight lifted off of his shoulders after the pressures of being a defending champion, but perhaps remaining the main event attraction has caused that pressure to linger.
Overview -
For as much as fight sports can be pure entertainment at times, there are other nights where it just fails to deliver.
That is certainly not to say there were not standout moments from UFC London, but compared to other events this one fell completely flat and there was a lack of highlight reel action, with some fights that were tipped to be fight of the night contenders not quite living up to their billing.
On the prelims, England's Nathan Fletcher fell to a split decision defeat, whilst heavyweight prospect Mick Parkin also lost on the cards to highly experienced Polish fighter Marcin Tybura.
The big sucker punch for English MMA fans was seeing the highly-touted Wolverhampton fighter Jai Herbert fall to his third defeat in five, with Herbert also suffering a split decision loss to Chris Padilla.
There was small solace in Gloucester's Christian Leroy Duncan claiming a unanimous win on the cards against Andrey Pulyaev, but many home fans will have gone home disappointed, not just at the results, but also the entertainment value of the fights.
It is clear that Leon Edwards may need a rehabilitation process after back-to-back losses and may, therefore, be required to step away from the main event, even if it's only for one fight.
Paddy Pimblett has a big fight coming up against Michael Chandler, and should he win that, doors to massive fights in the UK would be opened.
However, the one fight that needs to be made for UK fans, whether in the UK or not, is Jon Jones v Tom Aspinall, with the interim UFC Heavyweight Champion displaying a rubber duck to the camera in the crowd, symbolic of the notion that Jones is avoiding the fight.
It is without doubt the biggest fight in the UK, and also in the sport, and if it were to be held in the UK would comfortably sell one off the major stadiums.
Aside from Aspinall though, the fate of the UFC returning to the UK anytime soon may rest in the hands of Paddy 'The Baddy' Pimblett on April 12th in Miami, Florida.
