Another UFC card on UK soil is coming sooner than imagined.
Dana White last night revealed that the promotion has changed their 2023 travel plans to allow for an event to be held in England, headlined by the new welterweight champion Leon Edwards.
“[Leon’s] down, he’s ready to defend. He’s ready to take on whatever it is. He’s going on a whirlwind media tour when he gets home,” White told media members at the Contender Series post-fight press conference. Though not confirmed, it’s assumed Edwards will defend his title against former champion Kamaru Usman in a trilogy bout – both fighters have expressed interest in the fight.
“We weren’t supposed to go there, we were supposed to go somewhere else, I won’t say it because it’ll bum everybody out, but I’m not going there now and I’m going to England, I just gotta figure out what arena… We’re looking at every option out there right now. We’re looking at all the venues in England. Not just London we’re looking at every venue in England.”
“We put a fight night on at the O2 and it sells out in minutes. Imagine what we can do with this thing. It’s gonna be massive over there…
Dana White at DWCS post-fight press conference
The AllStar MMA roundup
- Fight Talk: Fighting Colby Covington in Brazil ‘would be a dream’ for Gilbert Burns
- UFC 279: Julian Erosa likely to make the fight down & dirty against “clean striker” Hakeem Dawodu
- UFC 279: Chad Anheliger says he wants to finish Heili Alateng – “I want to just beat this guy up”
The best of the rest
- Dana White’s Contender Series 51 results: All winners earn UFC contracts for second week in a row – MMJunkie.com
- Leon Edwards’ manager: Homecoming fight in UK more important than opponent for first title defense – MMAFighting.com
- Manager: ‘Door’s open’ for UFC champ Israel Adesanya to return to 205 and ‘even heavyweight’ – MMAjunkie.com
- UFC President Dana White shuts down rumors that Colby Covington is seriously injured: “He’s ready to fight and we’re making plans for him soon” – BJPenn.com
- Paulo Costa bemoans UFC contract, says he made just $35,000 for main event bout – BloodyElbow.com
The soapbox
Jonny Bones shoots, T-Wrecks blocks:
Ali Abdelaziz and a former champion in good spirits:
Kayla is hungry:
Adrian Yañez finally gets the love he’s been searching for:
Paulo Costa challenges Paddy Pimblett to an ice-cream eating contest:
Left of field:
The morning view
JHK chats with Tyson Nam after his recent win:
Demetrious Johnson sits down for Room Service Diaries with Morning Kombat:
MMA On Point break down 10 fighters that don’t get their dues:
Done deals
Wednesday
- Dan Hooker will fight Claudio Puelles at UFC 281 on November 12th (per Fordewin MMA)
- Michael Johnson to fight Marc Diakiese at UFC event on December 3rd (per Al Zullino)
- Tafon Nchukwi to fight Jamal Pogues at UFC event on December 17th (per UFC )
Tuesday
- Julian Marquez to fight Deron Winn at UFC event on December 17th (per Farah Hannoun)
- Jake Hadley will take on Carlos Candelario at UFC event on November 5th (per Mike Heck)
Monday
- Li Jingliang to fight Tony Ferguson at UFC 279 on September 10th (per UFC announcement)
- Raphael Assuncao to fight Victor Henry at UFC event on October 15th (per UFC announcement)
- Mike Davis to fight Uros Medic at UFC event on October 1st (per David Van Auken)
