UFC announces heavyweight headliner for return to London in July

A pair of ranked heavyweights are on tap for the UFC’s much-anticipated return to London.

By: Kristen King | 5 months ago
UFC announces heavyweight headliner for return to London in July
UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall celebrates his win at UFC London in 2022 | IMAGO/ZUMA Wire

Fresh off the success of their most recent events, including UFC 286 in March, UFC president Dana White revealed the promotion would return to London, England with a ‘special’ event for the fight fans in July. Though they originally wanted to host another pay-per-view, the promotion has decided to move forward with a Fight Night, featuring a pair of heavyweight hitters. 

Tom Aspinall returns, headlines UFC London against Marcin Tybura

On Wednesday, White announced that Tom Aspinall vs. Marcin Tybura would serve as the headliner for UFC London, the upcoming event scheduled for July 22 at the O2 Arena in London, England. 

Tom Aspinall has headlined two previous UFC events in London with mixed results. In 2022, The Team Kaobon product earned a ‘Performance of the Night’ awarded first-round submission of Alexander Volkov. Fast forward four months, and Aspinall returned against Curtis Blaydes, who he lost to via first-round TKO after suffering a knee injury in the first 15 seconds of their fight. 

Aspinall revealed that he ‘suffered a torn MCL, a torn meniscus and some ACL damage,’ which required surgery that sidelined him for the rest of 2022. 

Tom Aspinall previously called out Marcin Tybura for return

A year after his loss to Blaydes, the fast-rising heavyweight contender will return to the fight he wanted. During a special UFC 30th anniversary Q&A, Aspinall revealed he was aiming for Tybura since the rest of the UFC heavyweight division had their next appearances scheduled. 

“Hey, listen. I just want to get one thing straight,” said Aspinall. “We need to secure another UK card for this year, and I got that big Polish dummy calling me out online. So if Marcin Tybura wants it, let’s bring him back to the UK this summer. Come on, please.

“At the moment, there’s not many free guys in the top ten,” continued Aspinall. “Everyone’s matched and as far as I can see, he’s the only guy who’s willing to take the fight. He wants the fight, he said it verbally. And if someone says publicly that they want to fight me, of course, I want to fight. I’m not backing down from no one. We’re two European guys, let’s do it in the UK.”

In the year or so Aspinall was away, Marcin Tybura has won his past two fights. ‘Tybur’ earned decisions against Alexander Romanov and Blagoy Ivanov at UFC 278 and UFC Vegas 68, respectively. 

Tybura is now 7-1 in his past eight appearances, with his only loss coming to Alexander Volkov. 

The current state of UFC London

With the addition of Aspinall vs. Tybura, UFC London has 10 confirmed fights. The current line-up is as follows:

  • Heavyweight: Tom Aspinall vs. Marcin Tybura
  • Flyweight: Molly McCann vs. Julija Stoliarenko
  • Lightweight: Chris Duncan vs. Yanal Ashmouz
  • Lightweight: Jai Herbert vs. Farés Ziam 
  • Bantamweight: Davey Grant vs. Daniel Marcos
  • Heavyweight: Mick Parkin vs. Jamal Pogues
  • Lightweight: Marc Diakiese vs. Joel Álvarez
  • Welterweight: Danny Roberts vs. Jonny Parsons
  • Bantamweight: Pannie Kianzad vs. Ketlen Vieira
  • Featherweight: Lerone Murphy vs. Josh Culibao

Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more updates to UFC London as they become available in the coming months.


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About the author
Kristen King
Kristen King

Kristen King is a writer for Bloody Elbow. She has covered combat sports since 2016, getting her start with outlets such as FanSided, MyMMANews and MMA-Prospects. She joined the BE team in 2020, covering a mix of news, events and injuries. In her time with BE, Kristen has created ‘Fright of the Night,’ a series that highlights some of the worst injuries in the sport.

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