Tag: UFC Fight Night 204

Mick Maynard’s Shoes: What’s next for Tom Aspinall after UFC Fight Night 204 win?

See whom Tom Aspinall should fight next after his victory over Alexander Volkov in the UFC Fight Night 204 headliner.

[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] put a bow on one of the most memorable events in recent memory Saturday when he submitted Alexander Volkov in the UFC Fight Night 204 headliner.

Aspinall (12-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) became the first fighter in more than 11 years to force Volkov (34-10 MMA, 8-4 UFC) to tap. He finished the fight with a straight armbar in the first round of the headliner at The 02 in London, keeping a flawless record inside the octagon.

After the fight, Aspinall made it clear he wants a matchup with fellow streaking heavyweight Tai Tuivasa. Is that the matchup to make for him, though?

Watch the video above for thoughts and analysis on Aspinall’s future after UFC Fight Night 204.

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After long layoff, Gunnar Nelson still angling for Santiago Ponzinibbio rematch

Gunnar Nelson had been out of action long enough that he didn’t know what it was like to fight in the UFC’s pandemic era.

LONDON – [autotag]Gunnar Nelson[/autotag] had been out of action long enough that he didn’t know what it was like to fight in the UFC’s pandemic era.

Nelson lost back-to-back fights to Leon Edwards and Gilbert Burns in 2019 and had been on the sidelines ever since then. So his Saturday return at UFC Fight Night 204 in London was one of the most highly anticipated fights on the card.

Nelson (18-5-1 MMA, 9-5 UFC) dominated late replacement Takashi Sato (16-5 MMA, 2-3 UFC), who stepped in for Claudio Silva, and won a unanimous decision with a trio of 30-26 scores from the judges at The O2. It was Nelson’s first win since December 2018 – and the first time he had to go the distance for a win in more than eight years.

“I felt good. I felt very good,” Nelson said at his post-fight news conference. “I’ve been saying this week even though I’ve been away for two and a half years, everything feels so familiar. It’s kind of like meeting an old friend after many, many years – it’s just the same. It’s just the same as it was before. … I really enjoyed it, and obviously I really enjoyed walking in from the crowd and getting this win tonight, for sure.”

Nelson doesn’t seem to want to have another big layoff like the one he just experienced. He said he’ll have a quick return to the gym, and that could mean a fairly quick return to another fight booking.

And though on one hand, he said he’s ready to fight anyone the UFC puts in front of him, he also said a rematch against Santiago Ponzinibbio is one he’s wanted for a while.

“Right now, I’m itching to get back in the gym, to be honest,” Nelson said. “There’s a few things in there I could feel fresh in my mind and my body is really fresh, so I feel like I could train tonight. There’s no injuries or nothing and I feel really fresh, so I’m looking forward to getting back in the gym and working.

“I don’t care (who I fight next), to be honest. Anyone. I’ve said that many times (I want to fight Ponzinibbio), and I’ll say it again. If I can pick, it would be him.”

The two welterweights competed in the UFC Fight Night 113 headliner in July 2017, when Ponzinibbio finished Nelson with strikes in 82 seconds.

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UFC Fight Night 204 post-event facts: Molly McCann’s elbow, other finishes enter record books

Check out all the facts and figures from UFC Fight Night 204, which saw a record-setting nine bonuses issued on a historic card.

The UFC put on one of the most memorable events in its storied history on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 204, which went down at The 02 in London and featured a remarkable nine finishes out of 12 bouts.

The show closed with a swift and decisive performance from [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (12-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC), who submitted fellow heavyweight contender [autotag]Alexander Volkov[/autotag] (34-10 MMA, 8-4 UFC) in the first round of their fight to stay unbeaten inside the octagon.

For more on the numbers behind the card, check below for 53 post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 204.

UFC London winner Tom Aspinall wants Tai Tuivasa next based on his fight style and personality

After pulling off a a feat no one else had done in nearly a dozen years, Tom Aspinall has set his sights on the next big task.

LONDON – After pulling off a a feat no one else had done in nearly a dozen years, [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] has set his sights on the next big task.

Aspinall (12-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) submitted former Bellator heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov (34-10 MMA, 8-4 UFC) in the first round in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 204 main event at The O2 in London. Volkov had not been submitted since July 2010.

“It couldn’t have gone any better,” Aspinall said after the fight. “That was the ideal performance. I truly thought I was going to go five rounds. To get a guy like Volkov, who has been finished twice in 45 fights, out of there in the first round shows credit to my finishing ability. My finishing ability is the highest of the high level.

“I do like knocking people out. I’ll be honest. To me, knocking someone out is better than a submission. But I’ll take the submission over (going) five rounds all day.”

With the win, England’s Aspinall ran his winning streak to eight fights – all by stoppage. He’s a perfect 5-0 in his first five UFC bouts in less than two years, and it’s been against an increasingly stiff level of competition.

Before his win over Volkov, Aspinall tapped out former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski and this past September knocked out Serghei Spivac in the first round.

Now Aspinall, who will turn 29 next month, has turned his focus to Tai Tuivasa, who has five straight knockout wins. In February, he stopped Derrick Lewis for his third straight $50,000 bonus.

Aspinall said his callout has nothing to do with beef and everything to do with being a fan of him as a prospective opponent.

“I’m a big fan of Tai – big shout-out, Tai,” Aspinall said. “The reason why I called out Tai is, first of all, I’m a massive fan of his style. Second of all, I’m a massive fan of his personality. The crowd goes wild when he fights. And apparently, the crowd goes wild when I fight. So me and him in the U.K., come on, bro. What a good time that would be. Let’s line it up (for) the next U.K. card. Get me and Tai on it – please.”

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Dana White impressed with Paddy Pimblett’s popularity: ‘He’s the real deal’

UFC president Dana White praises Paddy Pimblett following submission win at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 204 in London.

LONDON – It seems the UFC may have found its next star.

Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 204 in London featured many promising and prominent fighters. Among those was Liverpool’s Paddy Pimblett. The 27-year-old appeared to be the most popular figure of the night and got a big pop from the London crowd when stepped into the cage.

Pimblett (18-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) beat Kazula Vargas by submission in the first round of their lightweight contest on the main card bout. It was Pimblett’s second fight in the UFC.

Pimblett carried big expectations entering fight night and delivered. UFC president Dana White was impressed with Pimblett’s performance, along with his popularity among fans.

“This week, I was getting tired of hearing, ‘Wait till you see his walkout. Wait till you see his walkout,’ and this and that,” White told MMA Junkie at the UFC Fight Night 204 post-fight news conference. “And I’m like, ‘I need to see him fight. He needs to win.’ But he did, and he did it spectacularly. And when he was in trouble, he came back and turned the fight around and won.

“I’ll give you a good example. On my Instagram, I posted the faceoffs (Friday). The (Tom Aspinall-Alexander Volkov main event) fight did 120,000 views, and Paddy’s faceoff did 1.3 million. All the talk going about his walk-in and all this sh*t – this kid is real. He’s got a ton of hype behind him and he showed everyone he’s the real deal.”

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Although Pimblett definitely contributed to the success of UFC Fight Night 204, there were many other standout performances and highlight-reel finishes. Of the 12 fights, nine were by stoppage. All nine fighters were given $50,000 Performance of the Night bonuses, as opposed to the standard two.

White is looking to return to the U.K. again in 2022.

“Tonight was such a good night,” White said. “My brain is absolute mush tonight, and some other things too. We’ll get back home and figure out what’s next. Tonight re-energized me and reminded me of what is like to do fights in the U.K. We’re coming back this year. I don’t give a sh*t what the schedule is. We’ll move things around when we get home.”

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Arnold Allen wanats Calvin Kattar main event rebooking after big Dan Hooker win at UFC London

After what arguably was the biggest win of his career, Arnold Allen wants to keep climbing – and has a fight rebooking in mind.

LONDON – After what arguably was the biggest win of his career, [autotag]Arnold Allen[/autotag] wants to keep climbing – and has a fight rebooking in mind.

Allen (18-1 MMA, 9-0 UFC) took care of Dan Hooker (21-12 MMA, 11-8 UFC) with a first-round TKO in the UFC Fight Night 204 co-main event at The O2 in London on Saturday. The finish got Allen one of nine post-fight bonuses – one for each finish on the card – and was his first extra check since 2018.

“I always said the better guys I fight, the better I’m going to show up,” Allen said. “He’s the best guy I’ve fought. He’s the most dangerous guy by a country mile – physically, his skill set, he’s long as anything.

“It definitely wasn’t easy. It was months of driving up and down the country, killing myself training, having anxiety thinking of these stupid things and trying to drown those thoughts out of my hard work. So it definitely wasn’t easy. I feel like I seized (the opportunity) on both ends and did what I’m capable of. The better opponent I face, I still believe there’s a lot more to go – there’s more levels I can go up.”

Allen has had a slow rise up the UFC’s featherweight ladder. After he debuted with the promotion in 2015, he’s had just one calendar year in which he’s fought twice. In 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021, he’s fought just one time a year. His win over Hooker was his first fight in 2022, and he joked at his post-fight news conference that fighting once a year has worked out pretty well for him so far – to the tune of 9-0 in the UFC.

But he called out Calvin Kattar for a fight that would be a rebooking after their initial matchup was scrapped due to an Allen injury, and Kattar’s management told MMA Junkie a June matchup would be great on his side.

“I want to be in the top five and I think he’s top five,” Allen said. “That’s a fight that would put me there. We got offered that fight for a main event spot last year or earlier in the year, but I was out with injury. I think it works really good. He’s less tall than (Hooker), so that works out. He’s predominantly a boxer, I’m predominantly a boxer, so it’s a fan-friendly fight. I think I’m the better boxer.”

Allen told MMA Junkie he thought a June fight could work, too.

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Paddy Pimblett brushes off Ilia Topuria’s callout: ‘Everyone wants to hang on my coattails’

UFC standout Paddy Pimblett is not interested in fighting Ilia Topuria following Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 204 in London.

LONDON – [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] doesn’t seem to have interest in fighting Ilia Topuria.

The UFC standout brushed off Topuria’s callout at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 204 in London. Topuria called out Pimblett (18-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) and expressed his interest in fighting him all throughout fight week following their Tuesday altercation, and then again after his knockout win over Jai Herbert.

Topuria called Pimblett a “blond b*tch” in his in-cage post-fight interview with Michael Bisping and said he wanted to meet Pimblett in the octagon.

Like Topuria, Pimblett was successful and picked up a stoppage win on the main card of the event. Pimblett submitted Kazula Vargas in the first round – and he didn’t seem keen on accepting Topuria’s challenge.

“Everyone wants to fight me,” Pimblett told reporters at the post-fight news conference. “Everyone wants to hang on my coattails. No one knew who Ilia Topuria – or ‘hand sanitizer boy’ – was until he tried to start an altercation with me. No one knew who he was. I’m the draw. Everyone wants to fight me.”

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Despite not having much love for Topuria, Pimblett did give him credit for his knockout win over Herbert. A massive right hand from Topuria put Herbert out cold to the canvas and was one of nine $50,000 bonus winners in London.

“I’ll give him his due – it was a good knockout,” Pimblett said. “It was a very good knockout, especially after taking that head kick in the face. But if I hit him with that head kick like that, I’d finish him. As I said, he’s just ‘hand-sanitizer boy’ to me. A lion doesn’t concern themselves with the opinion of sheep.”

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UFC Fight Night 204 bonuses: Nine fighters go home with $50,000

The UFC handed out post-fight bonuses to each fighter on the card who got a finish – and there were a ton.

The UFC handed out post-fight bonuses to each fighter on the card who got a finish – and there were a ton.

After UFC Fight Night 204, nine fighters picked up an extra $50,000 for their performances in London. Check out the winners below.

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UFC Fight Night 204 results: Tom Aspinall submits Alexander Volkov with ease

Tom Aspinall continued to climb up the rankings with a submission of Alexander Volkov in impressive fashion at UFC Fight Night 204 in London.

[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] continues to push the bar on his potential.

The rising UFC heavyweight contender had a big test in front of him in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 204, and he passed it with ease. Aspinall (11-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) submitted former Bellator champion and longtime UFC contender [autotag]Alexander Volkov[/autotag] in the first round of their contest. The official stoppage came at the 3:45 mark of Round 1.

It was a dominant showing by Aspinall. The 28-year-old outworked Volkov (34-9 MMA, 8-3 UFC) in all areas of the game. Early in the round, Aspinall connected on Volkov while also avoiding any big shots coming his way. Aspinall then took Volkov down and landed heavy ground-and-pound to split him open on the side of his head. Volkov got back up, but eventually was taken down again and submitted seconds later with a straight armlock.

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With the win, Aspinall continued his unbeaten run in the UFC and his rise up the heavyweight rankings. Aspinall is on an eight-fight winning streak, which includes five victories under the UFC banner. Apinall hasn’t lost since May 2016.

Volkov was unable to build off his unanimous decision win over Marcin Tybura at UFC 267 this past October. He’s 1-2 in his past three fights. The other loss came to former UFC interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane in June 2021. It was Volkov’s second career submission loss and first since 2010.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 204 results include: