Tom Aspinall banished a ghost on the O2 Arena on Saturday, securing an announcement victory at UFC London to make a triumphant return, one 12 months after struggling a extreme harm in the identical constructing.
In July 2022, Aspinall tore his MCL and stretched his ACL simply 15 seconds into his predominant occasion with Curtis Blaydes, and virtually precisely three hundred and sixty five days later, the Wigan heavyweight stopped Marcin Tybura within the first spherical to get again to successful methods.
Aspinall, 30, damage Tybura early with a head kick however resisted getting carried away, as a substitute biding his time – briefly, a minimum of – earlier than dropping the Pole, 37, with a straight proper hand. Aspinall then pounced with hammer fists, forcing the stoppage with 1:13 on the clock, earlier than climbing atop the cage to have a good time.
“I wasn’t myself [last time], this is a whole new version of me,” Aspinall mentioned in his post-fight interview. “I’m not gonna say that I’m back; I’m different. My mind’s different. I’m going all the way [to the belt].
“I’ll tell you exactly what I’m gonna do: I’m gonna go to Paris [in September], I’m gonna sit front row for Ciryl Gane vs Sergey Spivak, then I’m gonna beat the winner of that fight. Then I’m gonna beat [champion] Jon Jones.”
The end result put the group again in jubilant spirits, after “Meatball” Molly McCann suffered a submission loss within the co-main occasion.
The Liverpudlian fan favorite tapped to an armbar in her flyweight contest with Julija Stoliarenko, on what was an evening of blended fortunes for British fighters.
Full UFC London outcomes (* denotes British fighter)
Aspinall finishes Tybura with hammer fists after dropping the Pole
(Action Images by way of Reuters)
Main card
*Tom Aspinall def. Marcin Tybura by way of first-round TKO (punches, 1:13)
Julija Stoliarenko def. *Molly McCann by way of first-round submission (armbar, 1:55)
*Nathaniel Wood def. Andre Fili by way of unanimous choice (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
*Paul Craig def. Andre Muniz by way of second-round TKO (punches and elbows, 4:40)
Fares Ziam def. *Jai Herbert by way of unanimous choice (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
*Lerone Murphy def. Josh Culibao by way of unanimous choice (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Daniel Marcos def. *Davey Grant by way of cut up choice (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Molly McCann (proper) was submitted by Julija Stoliarenko within the co-main occasion
(Action Images by way of Reuters)
Prelims
Jonny Parsons def. *Danny Roberts by way of second-round TKO (punches, 4:57)
Joel Alvarez def. *Marc Diakiese by way of second-round submission (head-arm choke, 4:26)
*Mick Parkin def. Jamal Pogues by way of unanimous choice (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Makhmud Muradov def. Bryan Barberena by way of unanimous choice (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ketlen Vieira def. Pannie Kianzad by way of unanimous choice (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
*Chris Duncan def. Yanal Ashmouz by way of unanimous choice (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Bruna Brasil def. Shauna Bannon by way of unanimous choice (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Jafel Filho def. Daniel Barez by way of first-round submission (arm-triangle choke, 1:34)
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