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On Saturday, March 18th, the UFC Fight Night returns to The O2 in London, England – The perfect moment to look back and reflect on some of the most memorable UFC moments in the British capital.
July 13th, 2002 – Where it all began
The first ever event the UFC hosted in London was ‘UFC 38: BRAWL AT THE HALL’, which took place in the Royal Albert Hall on July 13th, 2002. More than 3,500 fans watched MMA legend and now UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes winning the welterweight world title against Carlos Condit.
September 8th, 2007 – Legends collide
Five years after their successful London debut, the promotion returned with ‘UFC 75: CHAMPION VS. CHAMPION’ to the British capital and for the first time hosted an event inside the iconic O2. The main event featured light heavyweight belt holder Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and PRIDE champion Dan ‘Hendo’ Henderson. Further, the fans also saw young Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping making his third appearance in the octagon since winning season three of The Ultimate Fighter.
June 7th, 2008 – Familiar faces
Returning to London’s O2, less than a year later, ‘UFC 85: Bedlam’ attracted more than 15,000 MMA fans. The Brazilian welterweight finished the night’s main bout against Matt Hughes, with a series of flying knee kicks and punches in round two. In action too were Thales Leites, Nate Marquardt, Thago Tavares, and Fabricio Werdum, as well as Michael Bisping, who defeated Jason Day via TKO in round one.
February 21st, 2009 – The Outlaw in the Octagon
London’s next big UFC event was headlined by the winners of the first two seasons of The Ultimate Fighter – Diego Sanchez and Joe Stevenson. However, UFC 95’s co-main event was the one to ignite home fan reaction, as it featured Englishman Dan ‘The Outlaw’ Hardy who knocked out Rory Markham in the first round.
October 16th, 2010 – A hero is born
Headlining his first UFC event on home soil, Michael Bisping in 2010 continued his winning streak against Japanese judoka Yoshihiro Akiyama. Dan Hardy, who earlier in 2010 had become the first Brit to ever challenge for a UFC belt, suffered a memorable KO defeat at the hands of Carlos Caondit in the night’s co-main event.
February 16th, 2013 – Rising stars
‘UFC ON FUEL TV: BARAO VS. MCDONALD’ was watched by more than 10,000 fanx inside Wembley arena. The event featured well-known names like Renan Barao, Cub Swanson, Dustin Poirier, Gunnar Nelson and Britain’s Jimi ‘Poster Boy’ Manuwa, who beat Cyrille Diabate that night.
March 8th, 2014 – Knockout artists
The UFC returned with ‘Poster Boy’ as a headliner ,to the UK’s capital the following year. Unfortunately for the home fans suffered the British light heavyweight a painful knockout defeat at the hands of Sweden’s Alexander Gustafsson.
February 27th, 2016 – The greatest of all time
The latest UFC action in London took place in front of a sold out O2, featuring Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva and Britain’s very own Michael Bisping in the main event. Bisping defeated Silva via unanimous decision and brought his professional MMA record in front of a home crowd to 18-0. Moreover, fellow British talent’s Tom Breese, Scott Askham, Arnold, and Davey Grand were victorious in their country’s capital and fan-favourite Brad ‘One Punch’ Pickett as well secured a memorable win over Francisco Rivera.
March 18th, 2017 – A date for the diary
The fight card for the promotion’s next huge event in London is yet unveiled but Londoners Brad Pickett and Jimi Manuwa, Doncaster’s Marc Diakiese and Birmingham native Leon Edwards already made public their desire to compete on the card.
