UFC

Aspinall needed less than one round to tap out heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov in the Fight Night main event, in what was his first contest under Dana ...

This could be as electric - perhaps as abrupt - as some of the other fights on the card. Arnold Allen and Dan Hooker will be the next duo to make that walk to the Octagon. "Not as clean a win as I'd like, maybe a 5 or 6 out of 10 - he got me with a good punch but a nice punch wakes me up in the morning!" And though his initial flurry is cooled off by Hooker, a pair of head kicks set up another Allen-dominated flurry and the referee steps in at the right time. The main card begins as explosively as much of the prelims were - Topuria weathers some great Round 1 offense from Herbert - including a flush head kick - before turning his lights clean out with a vicious right early in the second. And to cap off a night of blistering quick finishes, the Brit spends a few minutes slickly rotating through his fists, his feet and some choice takedowns before finding the armbar and getting Volkov to tap in relatively short order! Aspinall is next It's been a breathless card so far, and all that remains is the main event.

As UFC returns to London, Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann talk wrong-un Tory biscuits, Chattin' Pony and why there is no one like them in the game.

Meatball Molly looks up, her eyes shining as she thinks of herself and Paddy the Baddy. “We owe it all to this place and, on Saturday, we’ll light up the O. Paddy and me will show it’s not all talk or bravado or arrogance. It got me to where I’m going – to where Patrick and I are going.” I was thinking this was a good fight to show what scousers are made of because every step I’ve taken in life, every positive thing I’ve accomplished, I attribute to this city. “There had never been a female champ like me in Cage Warriors,” she says of the organisation where she made her name. Pimblett adds: “It’s going to be a scouse invasion of London and the only thing I can compare to it is when Conor McGregor fought in Dublin. But it’ll be louder than that. Thank you for representing the city so well.’ It meant so much because he understood lots of people will submit and tap out – but not me or my city.” “The reason I called it Chattin’ Pony is because, in Liverpool, it means you’re chatting a bit of shit. The documentary opens with her first UFC fight, in Liverpool in May 2018, and captures her devastation after she blacked out during a choking headlock. “I hate the establishment,” he says, “the royal family and the Tories.” He also talks about the contract – “worth well over a million pounds” – he has signed with the American company Barstool Sports and the vlogger from Philadelphia who has moved to Liverpool to follow him and post daily content online. Last September, in Las Vegas, the UFC was given its first taste of the Paddy and Molly Show as Pimblett made his debut and McCann entered the last fight on her contract. After she shows me her tattoo – “My city, my people, my heart” – in tribute to Liverpool, McCann says: “You’ll never meet another Patrick Pimblett or Molly McCann. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a girl and he’s a boy, but we push each other to be better versions of ourselves and don’t envy each other’s success. The two of us are totally mad characters but we come from the best and hardest city in the world.”

Allen and Hooker delivered some wild exchanges of punches before the referee stepped in to call it off.

This marks the first knockout or TKO win in Allen's run and the first stoppage via strikes he has secured in eight years. Allen and Hooker came out swinging. Arnold Allen earned some respect on Saturday with his performance in the co-main event.

Kiwi Dan Hooker's move to featherweight for his UFC fight against Englishman Arnold Allen in London on Sunday morning has ended in a first-round technical ...

The Aucklander, blood streaming from his nose, did well to withstand the early punishment, and made some good strikes of his own in a wild exchange, but Allen was in control and merely gathering himself for what ended up being his decisive attack, which included a high kick to Hooker’s head. Hooker had moved from lightweight for his first fight at featherweight since 2016 and had a reach and height advantage against his higher-ranked opponent at the O2 Arena, but was lacking defensively and was simply too easy to hit. The fight was stopped with two and a half minutes remaining after Hooker, who had withstood an early barrage of heavy punches from Allen, was trapped against the side of the octagon after another brutal attack.

British UFC fighter Arnold Allen has catapulted himself into the spotlight at the expense of New Zealand's Dan Hooker. Ahead of their bout at this weekend's ...

The pandemic era has not been kind to Hooker, who is now 1-4 since June 2020. The two returned to range, and Hooker looked to set up knee strikes while working his jab. A counter left hand found the mark and sent Hooker stumbling backwards. Allen swarmed Hooker with punches and landed most of them. For Hooker, dropping back down to the 65.7kg division, he needed to steal someone's momentum. Ahead of their bout at this weekend's UFC Fight Night at the sold-out O2 Arena in London, both fighters had plenty to gain.

Australian UFC heavyweight Tai Tuivasa is famous for two things: going to war in the octagon, and drinking beer afterwards.

Then the Brit called out Tuivasa, saying: “First thing, someone buy me a beer. “I don’t watch fighting. Tuivasa currently sits third.