UFC London: Evloev vs Murphy - Mar 21 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[wandshogun09]

Back in the Big Smoke…

PARAMOUNT+ MAIN CARD
Movsar Evloev vs Lerone Murphy 

Luke Riley vs Michael Aswell

Michael Venom Page vs Sam Patterson 

Iwo Baraniewski vs Austen Lane

Roman Dolidze vs Christian Leroy Duncan 

Kurtis Campbell vs Danny Silva 

PARAMOUNT+ PRELIMS
Mason Jones vs Axel Sola

Nathaniel Wood vs Losene Keita 

Mario Pinto vs Felipe Franco 

Antonio Trocoli vs Mantas Kondratavicius

Louie Sutherland vs Brando Pericic 

Shem Rock vs Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady

Shanelle Dyer vs Ravena Oliveira

 

 

First off, what were they on when they made that poster? Fuck me. Feels like it should come with an epilepsy warning. It’s not my favourite but I like that they’re at least trying different things with the posters now. Card itself is a bit of a weird one. We talked about it when the lineup was announced and I still think this card would look considerably better if they just shuffled the order a bit. Looks all topsy turvy as it is. No reason why fights like Jones/Sola and Wood/Keita should be on the prelims of a Fight Night in 2026. But yeah, wonky bout order aside, there’s enough there to hold my interest. And it’ll be on at a decent time for us which is always a bonus.
 

 

Movsar Evloev vs Lerone Murphy tops the bill in London. Good fight and a solid headliner between two undefeated top contenders. This should be a title eliminator but we’ll see. It’s actually kind of bullshit that these two are even having to fight each other at this stage. We all know what this is. One of these two should’ve been challenging the champ Alexander Volkanovski for the strap on that Sydney card in January. Either of them would’ve been worthy. Instead the title shot went to Diego Lopes in a rematch not a single soul asked for, despite Volk already clearly beating him in his last fight. Well, to the surprise of no-one, the rematch went exactly the same way only duller. Which is funny because the justification I saw people try to make for giving Diego the rematch was because he’s ‘exciting’, whereas Evloev and Murphy are ‘boring’. How did that work out? Volk vs Lopes 2 was a bit of a dud and a great big fat waste of everyone’s time. Now they’ve matched up Evloev and Murphy just so they can eliminate one of them from the title race. When really, these two both should’ve been Volk’s next two title defences. Oh well. The mad thing is, there’s still no guarantee that the winner of this gets the next crack at Volk. You’d think they will. It looks like a nailed on #1 contender match. But is it? The matchmakers might have booked this just so they’re both tied up and they can justify giving the title shot to Jean Silva or something. It’s 2026. Who the fuck knows anymore?

Movsar Evloev has been stuck in this perpetual ‘dark horse’ role for what feels like forever at 145 now. He’s been on the roster since 2019, he’s undefeated at 19-0, he’s still only just turned 32 years old. Yet he never really seems to make any progress. That’s not all the UFC’s fault either, in all fairness. They definitely don’t seem keen on pushing him and I’m sure they’d rather he wasn’t in the title mix. Fair or not, he’s gained a bit of a reputation for being boring over the years. I think it’s a tad harsh myself. You look at his record and, yeah, he’s absolutely been a decision machine in the UFC. All nine of his UFC fights have gone the distance and a lot of them weren’t exactly memorable. But he’s been a lot more watchable in more recent fights, I think. The Diego Lopes fight in 2023 was tremendous, Lopes got all the credit but it takes two to tango. The Arnold Allen fight in early 2024 was really good. And I thought his fight against Aljamain Sterling at the end of 2024 was incredible.

Seriously, if you missed it, give it a watch. I went in with low expectations and these two stole the show. Way better fight than it sounds on paper. Problem is, that was Evloev’s last fight. December 2024. And that’s what I mean when I say it’s not all the UFC’s fault that he’s kind of stagnated. He’s been plagued by injuries and inactivity in recent years. He was supposed to fight Aaron Pico in July last year and pulled out with an injury. He ended up missing all of 2025. It’s not ideal. So yeah, of the current crop of Featherweights, Evloev is definitely one of the most deserving of a title shot. But in his case I can see why the UFC didn’t go that direction. The lack of finishes doesn’t help but the main thing for me is his lack of activity. He’s still ranked #1 at Featherweight somehow though. So if he wins this fight, at that point I don’t really see how you don’t give him the shot.

Manchester’s Lerone Murphy is 34 years old and also unbeaten with a record of 17-0-1 and eight knockouts. He’s got a stronger case to claim being hard done by in being passed over for the title shot to me. He absolutely should’ve got the Volk fight in Sydney instead of the matchmakers just lazily reheating the Lopes thing. Like Evloev, right or wrong, he’s got a bit of a rep for not being the most exciting fighter to watch. But one thing he’s been consistently good at is winning. It’s been the slowest of slow burns but in his last few fights he finally started making some headway. He beat Edson Barboza, Dan Ige and Josh Emmett in just under a one year span between May 2024 and April 2025. And the Barboza and Emmett wins were in five round main events. The big break came in August last year though. When Evloev pulled out of the Aaron Pico fight in July, the UFC went scrambling. A mysterious ‘TBA vs TBA’ fight was scheduled for the UFC 319 card in August and just three weeks out from the show, it was announced that Murphy would be stepping in and fighting Pico.

The bulk of the risk was on Murphy here. Pico was coming in with some hype and there was already some buzz about how he might be fast-tracked to a title shot with a win and stuff. But I don’t think Murphy got the credit he deserved for taking the risk. He had everything to lose. Murphy was ranked #6 at the time, undefeated and getting close to title contention. Pico was unranked and making his debut. On paper, a win for Murphy might not do that much for him. But a loss would be a disaster. Like I said, Murphy wasn’t known as a particularly entertaining fighter and the UFC probably weren’t exactly buzzing at the idea of him in title fights. So any slip up at this stage, they’d use it as the perfect excuse to send him right to the back of the line again. The risk vs reward factor didn’t seem to be in Murphy’s favour. Yet somehow…

Murphy came out of that fight looking like the clear top contender for Volk. They even had a little respectful exchange on Twitter and Volk seemed like he was all in to fight Murphy next. In hindsight, Murphy’s decision to step in against Pico looked like it was just what he needed to bag that title shot. I’ve compared his rise to the way Leon Edwards came up before. He’d been racking up wins and getting all these decisions but going nowhere. And the clock was ticking with him already in his 30s. I guess Murphy felt like he had to make something happen. Taking out Pico in the first round, with legitimately one of the best knockouts of the year, felt like it was just the ticket…then they booked Volk vs Lopes 2. It’s even more baffling when you see shit like this…

Yes, you’re reading it right. Dana’s choice for ‘Performance Of The Year’ was literally Murphy KOing Pico. But it still wasn’t enough for him to deem Murphy worthy of the title shot? Over Lopes getting another crack at it despite being thoroughly outclassed less than a year earlier? Makes sense. Just another piece of evidence that Dana’s been sleeping on the job and not paying attention or giving a fuck for years now.

“At this point, words are wind. I think the winner of this fight should be undeniably next in line for the title. Simple. Nothing’s concrete. But I hope so. The matchmakers know what type of matchup this is. Everyone knows what type of fight this is going to be and what type of fighter I’m fighting against. Movsar is elite. He’s a very good fighter, good everywhere, but I believe I’m going to take him into deep waters. It’s no secret what I’m going to do. It’s going to be defensive wrestling and vicious offence. Pressure him into making a mistake. I’ll be hunting for the knockout from bell to bell.”

“It hurt watching that fight (Volk vs Lopes 2), thinking I should’ve been there. It should have been me. I think if I was in there, I would’ve gotten the job done. I feel, right now, that I’m the best in the world at Featherweight. Volk is a guy I have the utmost respect for as a champion. If it were up to him, he would have fought me, he’s going out there and fighting the next best. It’s how every champion should be. Hopefully I get the chance to share the Octagon with him.” - Lerone Murphy

Someone’s O has to go and all that bollocks. Yeah, I’m looking forward to this fight. It’s rare you get two undefeated fighters at this level in MMA squaring off in a UFC main event. Honestly can’t remember the last time we saw that. Not sure how the fight itself is gonna go. Evloev’s tricky and his wrestling is always gonna be an issue. But he’ll also have been out for about 15 months by the time the cage door locks here. And that’s if he even shows up! I hope he does because this is an interesting fight and should determine who the next challenger is beyond doubt. But Evloev has had so many fight cancellations now it’s ridiculous. I read somewhere the other day that he’s had 20 fights scheduled in the UFC altogether and 11 of them got cancelled. Over half the fights he was booked in ended up in the bin! Hopefully this one goes ahead. Either way, I’d be happy to see Volk defend against the winner but I’m definitely gonna be pulling for a Murphy win in this one. If he can follow up that Pico KO by handing Evloev his first loss, in front of a home crowd in the UK, that might be just the ticket for him to go for gold.

 

Luke Riley vs Michael Aswell is an odd choice for co-main. I get it’s only a Fight Night but there are probably three fights on the undercard here alone that would be better in that spot. Whatever. Riley’s a teammate of Paddy Pimblett so I guess he’s getting some of that Paddy Privilege just by association. To be fair, Riley looks like he’s worth keeping an eye on. He’s from Liverpool, 26 years old and undefeated at 12-0 with nine by knockout or TKO. I remember seeing his name pop up a fair bit on social media when he was in Cage Warriors and there was some buzz when it was announced the UFC had signed him last year. He made his debut on the Qatar card in November…

And did that to Bogdan Grad early in the second round. An absolute peach of a left hook KO that nearly twisted Grad’s head off his neck. I thought Grad was gonna be a decent test for him as well going in. Not sure how far Riley can go but it was definitely a strong introduction to the big stage for him. Barely remember Aswell. He’s from Houston, Texas (they literally just went there but he’s on the London card?), 25 years old and 11-3 with six by KO/TKO. Made his UFC debut in May, losing on points against Bolaji Oki. Bounced back with a first round stoppage win over Lucas Almeida on the Rio card in October. He also fought Grad on DWCS back in 2024 and lost a split decision. So the ‘MMA Maths’ at least favours Riley.

 

Michael Venom Page vs Sam Patterson is a bit of an odd one and caused quite a bit of discussion when the full card was announced. I’ve made no secret I’m not a fan of MVP. Always felt like he’s a bit too much flash and too little substance. He’ll style on jobbers and old washed up guys and that’s when you used to see those spectacular finishes. But against anyone of a higher level, he’s generally pretty boring to watch. But that aside, this still feels like a bit of a random booking. Patterson’s been doing alright lately but he’s not much of a name, plus it’s UK vs UK which they don’t really do on these cards. Just a strange one all round. Makes me wonder if the UFC are looking to phase MVP out. Let’s face it, he hasn’t been great to watch in the UFC. He’s gone 3-1 since signing, the only loss was against Ian Garry, and he’s beat some decent guys like Jared Cannonier and Kevin Holland, gave Shara Bullet his only loss etc. But it’s been decision after decision and none of them have been much fun. Plus he’s gonna be 39 in April. Despite winning more than losing, the matchmakers are probably looking at him as past his best before date. MVP himself has talked recently about feeling like he’s not in the UFC’s good books…

“I definitely don’t feel like I’m in good favour with the UFC at the moment. Who I drew as an opponent, even down to when I saw the fight card, it’s interesting. Lerone Murphy massively deserves his position but then you look at the co-main event? You look at the whole card in general, it’s not the most exciting. I would have felt like, a name like myself being on that card…I’m being positioned on the card in a weird way and I’ve been given an opponent which is a bit of a weird opponent as well. It just feels like I’ve upset somebody. I’m not sure.” - Michael Venom Page

He also mentioned that he’s trained with Patterson before, in preparation for other fights, and that’s another reason he wasn’t keen on this fight. It’s a step down in terms of name value, plus it’s a former training partner and another UK fighter. And if he hadn’t upset the UFC before, he probably has now. He’s been one of the few fighters on the roster who’s been vocal about not being happy with the recent headlines of Zuffa Boxing signing Conor Benn to a $15 million deal.

“It’s not something I’m happy about. How highly he (Dana) values people away from the sport that built his reputation, it’s just upsetting. It’s disappointing more than anything. That’s all I’ll say on that.”

“I hate hearing stories of fighters getting to what is the pinnacle of our careers in terms of the UFC and still being broke. That just shouldn’t exist. This is something people have complained about. Francis Ngannou being the Heavyweight champion of the world and broke, borrowing money from a friend of his, Usman. Why was he even in that situation is the question for me.”

“This is why I wasn’t initially excited about the Paramount deal because, for me, the bonus increase doesn’t do enough compared to the amount of money they’ve just brought in for themselves.” - Michael Venom Page

I get the feeling he’s gonna be one of very few fighters on the UFC roster speaking publicly about this. I also get the feeling that Dana’s gonna look at this and go ‘Right, you don’t like the bonuses? Fine. You’re never getting one then’. If he wasn’t already in the dog house for being a bit dull, he’s absolutely gonna be in there for talking like this. He’s right. Seeing him call out the bullshit is legitimately probably the first time I’ve ever warmed to him. But it seems like this is all heading for an unpleasant split between the UFC and MVP in the not too distant future. I wouldn’t be surprised if they cut him loose if he loses this fight, to be honest. I’m not sure how the fight itself is gonna go. Patterson’s a decade younger at 29 and he’s 14-2-1 with 13 finishes. He got smoked in a minute in his UFC debut but moved up to Welterweight and has gone 4-0 with four first round finishes since. It’s a step up for him but a nice opportunity. It’s a weird booking in MVP’s eyes and to fans and media but from Patterson’s perspective, this is a great piece of matchmaking.

 

Iwo Baraniewski vs Austen Lane is most likely ending with a bang and most likely with Lane on the receiving end. It’s a nothing fight really, typical of modern day 205, but it’s probably got a decent chance of being short and violent so I get why they’ve whacked it on the main card. Poland’s Baraniewski is 27 years old and 7-0 with a 100% finish rate. He scored a 20 second knockout on DWCS back in September and then made his Octagon debut at UFC 323 in December, where he chinned Ibo Aslan in a wild 90 second brawl. I liked what I saw. Wasn’t pretty and I don’t see him going too far. As exciting as it was, he was pretty reckless. Someone’s gonna make him pay for that at some point. But 205 badly needs some entertaining fighters so he’s a welcome addition. Lane’s 38 and a bit shit. He’ll slug it out but usually comes out on the losing end. He’s 13-7-0-1 and has gone 1-4 in his last five. He was stopped in all four of those losses as well.

 

Roman Dolidze vs Christian Leroy Duncan is alright. Not really grabbing me but it’s not a bad fight. Georgia’s Dolidze is 37 years old, 15-4 and coming off a bad loss against Fluffy Hernandez at the Apex back in August. He was on a nice little three fight winning streak going into that fight but Fluffy absolutely dominated him then strangled him for the fourth round finish. CLD’s obviously gonna be the crowd favourite. He’s from Gloucester, 30 years old and 13-2 with eleven of his wins coming inside the distance. He debuted in the UFC in 2023 and didn’t really get off to the best start. He got a bit of a flat win in his debut because his opponent suffered an injury, then he lost his next fight. He’s had a couple of setbacks but he’s coming into this fight on a three fight winning streak and stopped his last two opponents - Eryk Anders and Marco Tulio - in style with spinning elbows and backfists. He should probably be winning this fight but I can’t remember how his grappling is. That’s probably gonna be the route Dolidze takes as well so we’ll see how CLD handles that.

 

Kurtis Campbell vs Danny Silva is currently set to kick off the main card. Again, seems a strange choice when you see some of the fights they’ve relegated to the prelims but whatever. I’ve never heard of Campbell but I’m guessing he’s good and they wanna showcase him and that’s why he’s got this spot on the card? He’s from Liverpool, 23 years old and unbeaten at 8-0 with six finishes. He last fought on DWCS in September and got the TKO in just over a minute. Nicknamed ‘The Pink Panther’ for some reason. Silva AKA ‘Puma’…wait? ‘The Pink Panther’ against the ‘Puma’? Box office that. Anyway, Silva’s 29 with a 10-2 record, five by KO/TKO. I recall him looking decent in his first few UFC fights but he lost a decision to Kevin Vallejos last time out.

 

Mason Jones vs Axel Sola should be good. Should’ve been on the main card, in my opinion. Easily one of the fights I’m most looking forward to on the entire card. Wales’ Jones is riding high here. He’s 17-2-0-1 now with eleven not making it to the scorecards. He had that previous UFC stint back in 2021/22 that didn’t really work out but he went away, racked up four wins in Cage Warriors and was brought back to the UFC last year. In his return he beat Jeremy Stephens in Stephens’ backyard in Des Moines, Iowa. Stephens was also returning to the UFC that night and was coming in with some momentum after some good wins in BKFC, but Jones beat him pretty handily. Then on the Paris card in September, Jones was matched up with Bolaji Oki.

Turned out to be one of the best undercard fights of 2025 for me. Bit of a forgotten gem already, to be honest. Just a fun back and forth battle, Oki had him in bother early but Jones soaked up everything he could dish out and battered him to a second round finish. I think I said it at the time but there’s a different feeling about how Jones looks in the UFC this time around to me. Not saying he’s champion material or anything but, at 30 years old and with more seasoning, he just looks more ready for the UFC this time. That first stint probably came a bit too early for him. Sola made his UFC debut that same night in Paris. It was home turf for him, he’s French, 28 years old and 11-0-1 with seven finishes. Interested to see him back. He was the Ares FC Lightweight champ before signing with the UFC but his UFC debut was up at Welterweight for some reason. Think the fight got thrown together quite late. He still stopped Rhys McKee but looked a bit undersized for 170. So this is him coming back down to 155. He showed signs of promise in his debut but I’m interested to see how he looks back at his normal fighting weight and with a proper camp behind him. Great fight.

 

Nathaniel Wood vs Losene Keita stands out to me and I’m going with this as ***WAND’S ONE TO WATCH*** here. The fight itself should be a cracker but it’s also the long awaited, delayed UFC debut of Keita. Again, no idea why this wasn’t considered worthy of a main card spot. What do the UFC have against Nathaniel Wood? He never gets any higher up the card and I read something recently that he’s never even been given a ranked opponent! That’s madness if true. Even here, obviously Keita isn’t ranked yet because it’s his debut.

Yeah, not sure what the issue is with Wood. Really good fighter, solid 22-6 record and has gone 6-1 in his last seven. And even that loss was to Muhammad Naimov who was cheating and fouling like fuck. OK he’s been a decision merchant in the UFC but, unlike MVP, Wood has been pretty consistently fun to watch. Comes into this fight off the back of three wins over Daniel Pineda, Morgan Charriere and Jose Delgado. That Delgado fight last time was tremendous as well. I don’t know what it is but someone high up in the UFC mustn’t like him for some reason. They love giving him these tough fights against unranked guys. Just noticed he’s barely even got a bonus in the UFC either. Last one he got was literally his UFC debut all the way back in 2018!

Losene Keita is Belgian/Guinean and is gonna be making history just stepping into the Octagon here. Apparently he’s gonna be the first Guinean to fight in the UFC. He’s 28 years old, 16-1 with ten coming by KO/TKO, he’s on a five fight win streak and he was a two-weight champion at Lightweight and Featherweight in the Oktagon promotion. I’ve been hearing his name for a few years now and only ever heard good things so I’m glad the UFC signed him. So often these days, the UFC let guys like this slip away to other promotions so it’s nice to see them actually get one under contract every now and then. And at 28, in theory, they’re getting him in his physical prime. The timing could be perfect for him to make a splash in the UFC, if he’s as good as he’s been cracked up to be. A lot of his opposition isn’t well known so time will tell how he does in the UFC. But that’s why he’s here. We’re gonna get the answers. He was supposed to make his debut on the Paris card in September against Patricio Pitbull but that turned into a shambles when Keita missed weight and Pitbull refused to fight. Keita actually tried to make Pitbull the villain in that whole drama, which made him look a bit of a dickhead, but it really wasn’t a good look for Keita coming in the door and immediately missing weight. Hopefully none of that here.

 

Mario Pinto vs Felipe Franco has been generating a bit of chatter on social media and for all the wrong reasons. This was originally supposed to be Pinto against Mick Parkin but Parkin withdrew and the UFC slotted newcomer Franco in there. Who, from what I’m reading, is an absolute bum. He’s Brazilian, 25 years old and 9-1 according to Sherdog. Doesn’t sound too bad on paper. But I’ve never seen him fight and people who have are saying he’s awful. Literally seen him described as “maybe the worst fighter they’ve ever signed” and “genuinely one of the least ready fighters ever on DWCS”. Jesus. Might just be hyperbole but if he’s as bad as it sounds then he’s gonna get fucked up here.

Because Pinto is one of the very few new Heavyweights who actually looks like he might have something about him. He’s Portuguese born but from London, 27 years old and undefeated at 11-0 with eight finishes. He made his UFC debut at the Apex last March and absolutely obliterated Austen Lane with a bomb of a right hand. Seriously, a KO that was wasted on the Apex. Thankfully they put him in front of a crowd in his next fight and he put Jhonata Diniz away in the second round on the Rio card in October. I like Pinto so far. He ticks a few boxes as far as what you want out of a Heavyweight goes. He’s young, he has knockout power, showed some grappling in his last fight, he goes for the kill and he actually seems to have some personality and charisma. Not gonna get ahead of myself, he hasn’t fought anyone good yet much less beat them. But the early signs are positive. Watch him go and lose to this ham and egg sandwich now.

 

Antonio Trocoli vs Mantas Kondratavicius. Not a clue. Never seen or heard of this Kondratavicius chap and from what I can tell he doesn’t have a nickname. With a name like that, he needs one. Now. I got brain freeze just typing that out. Looking him up, he’s Lithuanian, 26 years old and 8-1 with all eight wins not requiring judges. Last fight was on DWCS in September and he ended it via TKO in just over a minute. His fight before that was in Cage Warriors and he sparked some guy in 47 seconds. OK, I’m interested. On the other side, Trocoli is arse. 35 years old, 12-6-0-1 record and he’s gone 0-3 so far in the UFC, was finished all three times and was stopped in roughly a minute in his last two fights. The only thing he’s known for in MMA is that he dated and then fumbled Mackenzie Dern at some point. Loser. Yeah this sounds like the matchmakers setting him up for another clobbering to me.

 

Louie Sutherland vs Brando Pericic. Another battle of animal based nicknames here as we’ve got ‘The Vanilla Gorilla’ against ‘The Balkan Bear’. It’s Heavyweight so it comes with a warning that it’s highly likely to be absolute shite. But I’ll give it a chance. Sutherland is a Tottenham boy, 32 years old with a record of 10-4, eight by KO/TKO. He’s a proper unit.

Look at that build. Look at the shoulders! Rugby background apparently. You’d never guess, would you? He made his UFC debut on the Aspinall vs Gane undercard in October and I was actually kind of looking forward to seeing what he was about. Then he just fell victim to Valter Walker’s heel hook of doom and it was all over in about 90 seconds. Pericic is Aussie, trains out of City Kickboxing, 31 years old and he’s 5-1, all finishes. He debuted on the Perth card back in September and beat some fucker called Elisha Ellison by first round knockout. Don’t think I saw it.

 

Shem Rock vs Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady might be worth checking out the early prelims for. Shem Rock came in with quite a bit of buzz late last year and really didn’t live up to the hype. He was one of those names I’d been hearing for ages on Twitter and stuff with people bigging him up. When the UFC finally signed him he was doing a good job on social media of promoting it and making himself seem like a big deal. Then he made his debut on the Qatar card in November and kind of shat the bed. He lost on points against Nurullo Aliev and it pretty much exposed him as a one trick pony grappler with no striking. Aliev wasn’t an easy opponent for his debut, fair enough, but his lack of anything resembling a striking game is gonna be an issue going forward regardless. He’s 32 now as well so it’s not like he’s got bags of time to develop. As for Al-Selwady, he’s 30 years old, 15-4 and he fought once in the UFC back in March 2024, got knocked out by Loik Radzhabov and hasn’t been seen since. I recall that being a good scrap but he’s had four fights cancelled since. ‘Sick Note’ Selwady. Maybe he’ll turn up this time?

 

Shanelle Dyer vs Ravena Oliveira. Don’t know. Dyer is making her debut and I barely remember Oliveira so no idea about this one. Dyer’s from London, 24 years old and has a record of 6-1 with four finishes. She actually lost her last fight on DWCS back in September so not sure what the deal is with her still getting in the UFC? She must’ve impressed someone. Or maybe, more likely, they just needed bodies, especially British ones, to fill this card and she was still on the ‘recent contacts’ list. Oliveira is Brazilian, 29 years old with a 7-3-1 record. She’s actually been on the roster since 2023 but has somehow only fought twice in all that time. She’s gone 0-2 in the UFC and was last seen getting subbed by Stephanie Luciano on the Vancouver card in October. Hopefully Dyer can pick up a win to start the card off on a good note for the UK crowd.

 

London then. Here’s Tony and Christopher off for some pie and mash…

Edited March 20 by wandshogun09

[Egg Shen]

Rumors swirling that Evloev is out of the main event next week and that Jean Silva is stepping in.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah I saw that stuff yesterday as well. In one way it would be shite because Evloev vs Murphy feels like a legit number one contender match and the winner would be the nailed on most deserving next challenger for Volk. Feels like we don’t actually get to see the most deserving guy get the shot as often these days so that would’ve been quite refreshing.

But…if the rumour is true and Evloev is out, Murphy vs Jean Silva would almost certainly be the better fight to actually watch. And for all my cynicism that the UFC might just give Silva an unwarranted title shot against Volk next, if Silva beat Murphy, Silva getting a crack at Volk under those circumstances would feel like a much more credible option.

We’ll see how it all shakes but if Evloev is out, again, Christ. Undefeated or not, at that point you couldn’t blame the UFC for being hesitant to put him in the title mix. 

Edited March 14 by wandshogun09

[Egg Shen]

Customary little Cage Warriors plug as they always piggy back off of the UFC show over.

My Cage Warriors viewing has properly dropped off but I plan on watching this and proper having a fight weekend.

 

[wandshogun09]

No big loss to the card but the Melissa Mullins vs Luana Carolina fight has been binned due to Carolina weighing in at 144lbs for what was supposed to be a Bantamweight fight. So even taking into account the 1lb allowance in non title fights, she was still 8lbs over. Fucking ridiculous. 

Feel bad for Mullins. Hopefully the UFC do the right thing and pay her both her show and win money. I never get why fighters who are gonna miss weight that badly even embarrass themselves by showing up to the weigh in. Just pull out of the fight sick or something and at least save a little bit of face. Plus if she’d pulled out a few days ago, maybe they could’ve got a last minute replacement in. They’ve got no chance on 24 hours notice now so Mullins has wasted a training camp. All I can think is Carolina knew she was gonna come in heavy but hoped Mullins would feel pressured to take the fight anyway and then be at a disadvantage. That’s some bullshit. And it seems that’s what happened and Mullins was still gonna fight, but the commission yanked it. 

[Carbomb]

They should bin Carolina. She's got a history of missing weight, was deducted points in her last match for illegally upkicking, and she's not much cop anyway.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah they should get rid. Really no excuse not to pay Mullins in full either. None of this was her fault, she fulfilled her obligations and it’s not like whatever measly money she’s on is gonna put a dent in that $7.7 billion Paramount budget is it? 

[Dai]

1 hour ago, wandshogun09 said:

. I never get why fighters who are gonna miss weight that badly even embarrass themselves by showing up to the weigh in. Just pull out of the fight sick or something and at least save a little bit of face. Plus if she’d pulled out a few days ago, maybe they could’ve got a last minute replacement in. They’ve got no chance on 24 hours notice now so Mullins has wasted a training camp. All I can think is Carolina knew she was gonna come in heavy but hoped Mullins would feel pressured to take the fight anyway and then be at a disadvantage. That’s some bullshit. And it seems that’s what happened and Mullins was still gonna fight, but the commission yanked it. 

 

 

Yeah, the key info in that post is that she still agreed to take the fight, and also it was the commission, not the UFC that ditched the fight. Had this been in the US, then the fight would still be happening Id say, and all that would happen would be she gets 30% of her purse. Can see why she still weighed in when most of the time the punishment doesnt fit the crime. 

[Egg Shen]

Not that its really relevant to this situation, but Mullins herself missed weight twice in her last 3 UFC fights.

[wandshogun09]

This is getting underway in a few minutes.

I’d love to be wrong because I would like Murphy to win but I’m struggling to see him doing well against Evloev’s wrestling over five rounds. And I’d be very surprised if Evloev doesn’t go pretty tunnel vision down that route. It’s his biggest strength and Murphy has shown vulnerability to the takedown in previous fights. Either way, the winner should absolutely be getting the next crack at Volk and the gold. Whether it actually plays out like that we’ll have to wait and see. If it turns out to be a stinker, you know they’re gonna use that as the excuse to make Volk vs Jean Silva instead.

Not a bad card really. Well, I’m saying that because I’m watching at home at a decent hour. If I was forking out for tickets, travel and hotels I’d be singing a different tune. But there’s some good stuff on here. As I’ve said earlier in the thread, Jones vs Sola and Wood vs Keita are cracking fights on paper. And while the rest looks a bit weird, there are some fights that feel they have ‘early KO’ written all over them so, while it’s not great matchmaking and there are a few mismatches on paper, it should at least make for a few lively moments and quick finishes.

[NeverYield]

Very close fight, that I would have given to Murphy personally? Especially with the point deduction. MVPs fight was a waste of time, Baraniewski KO was great, Mason Jones is one I'll be following, absolute savage. 

[Egg Shen]

Show was very up and down, over all I thought this was pretty disastrous from a UK MMA standpoint.

There were bright spots, Mason Jones was tremendous, Riley/Dyer looked good, and Lerrone despite losing probably didn't lose much stock.

The rest, eeeeesh. I'm not a big fan of the phrase 'fraud check' but i'd imagine its being thrown around a lot post-event. Kurtis Campbell and Shem Rock both lost as favorites, Rock in particular looked shit, Patchy Mix-esque. Louie Sutherland is bouncer heavyweight MMA 101. Even Mario Pinto cooled all the hype on his progress.

Page/Patterson was the worst fight of the year. Absolutely horrendous. I know it's how Page fights but considering he was all over news outlets slamming fighter pay, he's got some front to come out and perform like that😄 I wouldn't be surprised if the UFC cut him, or bury him.

Even Wood/Keita didn't deliver and it's yet another hot prospect who fails to live upto the hype in the UFC. 

The event was somewhat saved by a solid co-main and main event for me. I was feeling pretty fed up before those. I was dreading the main event thinking it would be a 5 round wrestlefuck, but Evloev ripped up the script. I don't know how I scored it, I was genuinely shocked Evloev got the nod though, on first watch I thought best case he could hope for was a draw.

 

 

 

[NeverYield]

UFC London wasn't very well recieved at all across various places online from what I've seen, I thought it was alright, especially the Mason Jones fight, just an oldschool ham & egger of a fighter isn't he, and I enjoyed the main but Id have given that to Murphy. 

Lots of people in general complaining about MMA lately, and saying the glory days of 2002-2012 are well behind us. 

[Dai]

Cant be bothered to say too much on this. Thought it was crap. Complaining about MVP fights in 2026 seems crazy to me. You know exactly what you will get from him, so dont know how anyone can be shocked or suprised about it. I was just bored shitless.

Main and co main didnt save it for me at all either. Maybe my patience was already very thin by the main event, but I thought it was really average and forgettable. Was checked out by R2 of it.

 

Not good!

[jimufctna24]

4 hours ago, NeverYield said:

Lots of people in general complaining about MMA lately, and saying the glory days of 2002-2012 are well behind us. 

I'm curious as to why 2012 is seen as the end of the glory years? Is it because of the Strikeforce sale to the UFC in 2011? The end of the first MMA boom period around late 2010/early 2011? (IIRC, TV and PPV numbers peaked in 2010 before McGregor and Rousey got hot later in the decade). Is it because of the year on year increase in shows between 2010 and 2014? 

I've seen others claim that the UFC started to really decline when Joe Silva retired as matchmaker in 2016. Then there is the more recent theory that guaranteed TV money from ESPN (and now Paramount) has made the matchmakers and Endeavour lazy. Some also believe that the rot only really started to kick in during the Pandemic, with the addition of the Apex cards. There is probably some truth to all of these claims and others that I haven't mentioned. 

I'd personally have the glory years as starting around the mid-2000s, probably around 2003 (I find the early 2000s to be a fascinating time for the sport, but there was a lot of pish during that period), and lasting up until around the late 2010s. I stopped trying to watching every UFC show in the early 2010s due to the number of shows they were putting out, electing instead to cherry pick the shows I watched, something I still do today. However, that was more due to the number of shows, rather than the quality of them. 

 

Edited March 24 by jimufctna24