UFC London: Five things we learned
The UFC has successfully closed another London event. The event was not as wild as previous London cards, but it was still a great night of fights. UFC London gave us a lot of interesting results and important lessons that need to be discussed. Let’s look at five of the biggest lessons the event taught us.
Tom Aspinall is back and better than ever
In the UFC London main event, Tom Aspinall showed the MMA world he is back and better than ever. In less than two minutes, Aspinall finished Marcin Tybura in an ultra-impressive performance and catapulted himself into the title picture.
Despite quickly finishing Tybura, Aspinall was able to put his unique skill set on display. In striking exchanges, Aspinall utilized his speed, footwork and diverse striking skillset to land damaging shots that hurt Tybura. That group of skills is truly impressive as few heavyweights have those intangibles. Not to mention, Aspinall is a solid grappler and did not even dip into that realm.
What is more impressive is that Aspinall managed to get outstanding results at UFC London after returning from injury. It has been nearly a year since Aspinall suffered a major knee injury. In his return, he walked right into the building where the injury occurred and looked better than ever. That is impressive in itself.
As we move forward, Aspinall has made it clear that he is one of the best heavyweights on the planet. It is unclear what will happen next in the division. The only clear thing is that Jon Jones will look to defend the heavyweight title at UFC 295 against Stipe Miocic, and once that fight happens, we will have answers regarding the heavyweight championship and Jones’ retirement rumors.
Regardless of what happens, Aspinall is on the edge of a title fight.
The future is bleak for Molly McCann
At one point in time, it looked like Molly McCann had a bright future. After suffering a first-round submission loss to Julija Stoliarenko at UFC London, McCann’s career looks bleak.
It is not a secret that the UFC is a well-oiled machine; however, that means it is possible to learn some of the promotion tricks if you pay attention. The UFC London co-main event was a good example of one promotional trick. On one side of the fight, you have McCann, one of the most popular English MMA fighters, competing in her home country.
On the other side, you have a fighter with a 1-5 record in the promotion. Let’s say McCann was the betting favorite for a reason. If you are McCann, you are in a great position to go get an impressive victory; if you lose in that position, your stock plummets. We are dealing with the latter.
McCann is now riding a two-fight losing streak with a loss against a fighter that sits with a losing record. All of a sudden, the hype has quickly subsided.
Nathaniel Wood continues his featherweight climb
Nathaniel Wood has only been positive results since moving up to the featherweight division and that trend continued at UFC London.
On the UFC London main card, Wood was able to pick up a decision victory over featherweight veteran Andre Fili. It certainly was not easy, however. Wood faced a lot of adversity in the second round as he ate a massive shot that nearly finished the fight. Still, Wood nearly finished Fili in round one. That made round three the round that would decide the fight. In the deciding round, Wood landed the bigger shots and won the round.
Wood now sits with three wins in the featherweight division. Previously, he made it clear that featherweight is the perfect weight class for him. Now, he is adding wins to his resume. It looks like Wood has clearly established himself as a prospect that will be fighting ranked competition soon.
Paul Craig is adding to his skill set
At UFC London, Paul Craig saw positive results after dropping to the middleweight division. The former light heavyweight picked up a finished victory over Andre Muniz in his divisional debut.
It was obviously great to see Craig successfully make the 185-pound limit without having it affect his performance, but that was not the most eye-catching aspect of his performance. Instead, it was the fact that he was landing takedowns.
Typically, Craig operates as a BJJ practitioner that needs to pull guard and hunt submissions. It was great to see him land takedowns and spend time on top. If he wants to continue winning at middleweight, he will need to continue implementing wrestling into his game plan.
Lerone Murphy retains elite prospect status
At UFC London, Lerone Murphy kept his undefeated record intact as he earned a decision victory over Joshua Culibao.
Murphy needed an impressive victory over Culibao. Early in his career, Murphy established himself as the top prospect in the UFC featherweight division; however, his stock dropped after a close fight against UFC debutant Gabriel Santos. The concern over his underwhelming performance against Santos can be put to bed after a dominant victory over Culibao.
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