Tom Aspinall was not impressed with what he saw at UFC London.
The promotion made its annual pit stop in ‘The Big Smoke’ on Saturday night for a Fight Night card headlined by the return of former welterweight champion Leon Edwards. Unfortunately, the event failed to deliver on the excitement as nine of the evening’s 13 fights went to a decision, including an especially dull co-main event between Jan Blachowicz and Carlos Ulberg.
Even the UK crowd — which is normally very animated — found little to cheer for throughout the night, adding to the monotony.
Aspinall, who was sitting front row center for the festivities, echoed that very sentiment, calling the atmosphere in the O2 Arena “flat” and noting that many fans were headed for the car park as soon as the main event was over.
“To be honest with you, [UK MMA] needed a big night at the O2 Arena,” Aspinall said during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show. “It was just flat as hell in the O2 Arena on Saturday night. I was quite disappointed because, I don’t know, we needed something.
“A couple of years ago, UK MMA was absolutely banging. We’ve still got so much talent, but we just need that excitement, and the last few shows in the O2, we just haven’t had it, unfortunately. I don’t know why that is, but it’s not flowing the way it was.”
Shauna Bannon Brings the Highs, Molly McCann brings the lows at UFC London
The most exciting moment of UFC London came during the early prelims when Ireland’s own Shauna Bannon scored a comeback for the ages against Puja Tomar.
Near the halfway point of the opening round, Tomar landed a perfectly timed head kick that caught Bannon clean and sent her crashing to the canvas. Things looked dire for Bannon who was doing everything possible to survive the round. A minute later, Bannon managed to snatch Tomar’s arm, locking in an armbar that forced the Indian to tap out.
Bannon took him a well-deserved $50,000 bonus for her performance.
However, the elation turned to tears two hours later when UK fan favorite ‘Meatball’ Molly McCann announced her retirement from the sport after succumbing to a first-round rear-naked choke against the debuting Alexia Thainara.
That on top of Leon Edwards’ humiliating loss to Sean Brady left fans UK with a night they’d rather soon forget.
