The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to the shores of the United Kingdom this weekend with UFC Fight Night: Werdum Vs. Volkov at the O2 Arena in London.
The card is headlined by former UFC World Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum taking on former Bellator World Heavyweight Champion Alexander Volkov in a showdown of 2 of the Heavyweight Division’top contenders.
Volkov – who is undefeated since joining the UFC in 2016 has a professional fight record of 29 wins 6 losses with his last fight being a KO victory over the 7 foot tall Dutch giant Stefan Struve.
Werdum – comes into the fight in the midst of discussions over his future in the UFC with him rumoured to be in talks with the WWE about transitioning into Professional Wrestling.
Werdum enters the cage against Volkov after 2 victories – a first round submission victory over Walt Harris and a decision victory over Marcin Tybura.
This heavyweight fight will be looked closely by current UFC World Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic whose next opponent could very likely come from the winner of this fight.
Leading the under card, London’s own Jimi Manuwa takes on Jan Błachowicz in a Light Heavyweight rematch – as the pair have fought once before in 2015 at UFC Fight Night 64 in Poland in front of Błachowicz’s home crowd – where Manuwa came out on top via a decision victory.
Manuwa will be looking to bounce back after being KO’d in 47 Seconds of the 1st round by Volkan Oezdemir last time out and enters with a professional record of 17 wins with Manuwa’s 3 career losses all coming against top UFC Light Heavyweight Title contenders.
Błachowicz comes into the fight with 2 wins on the bounce – a quick submission victory over Devin Clark and a unanimous decision victory over Jared Cannonier – Błachowicz will be hoping to avenge his defeat by Manuwa in 2015 after being visually shocked and disappointed by the loss the last time they faced and enters the fight with a professional fight record of 21 victories and 7 losses.
Elsewhere on the card Former BAMMA Bantamweight standout Tom Duquesnoy takes on Terrion Ware with both fighters looking to impress after coming off close losses in their previous fights.
Duquesnoy had a split decision loss against Cody Stamann last time out and has a professional record of 15 wins 2 losses and 1 no contest where as Ware enters after losing by decision in his last 2 fights against Stamann and Sean O’Malley and is still looking for his first victory in the UFC.
Also on the main card is Birmingham’s Leon Edwards who will be taking on Polish-German fighter Peter Sobotta – with Edwards looking to stretch his unbeaten run to 5 fights (with his last loss in December 2015) whereas Sobotta looks to keep his run of form going with his 3rd straight UFC victory.
Edwards enters the fight with a record of 14 wins 3 losses whereas Sobotta comes into the fight with a professional record of 17 wins 5 losses and a draw.
With a stacked main card, the UFC is sure to delight the UK crowd packed in at the O2 arena.