The Real Winners and Losers from UFC Fight Night 204
It's two weeks after a pay-per-view event. It's two weeks away from another one.
But it was hardly an excuse for a mid-month lull for the UFC, which instead took its show on the road to the O2 Arena in London for a midday (in the U.S.) broadcast on ESPN+.
The 12-bout Fight Night show was the first to be staged away from the promotion's Apex home facility in Las Vegas since January 2021 and the first one outside of either the Nevada desert or the Fight Island venue in the United Arab Emirates since May 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida.
English fan favorite Tom Aspinall and Russian veteran Alexander Volkov topped the bill in a duel of the world's 11th- and sixth-ranked heavyweights, and four other bouts involved at least one ranked fighter.
UK-based John Gooden joined Michael Bisping and Paul Felder at the broadcast table, while Laura Sanko worked the rest of the room for breaking news and feature pieces and Din Thomas chimed in with intermittent technical analysis.
The B/R combat sports team was in its weekend vantage point as well to compile the definitive list of winners and losers from the show and we invite you to share your impressions with a word or two in the comments.
Winner: Making Heavy Progress
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Welcome to the heavyweight big time, Tom Aspinall.
The 28-year-old Englishman had never fought in front of a significant crowd or engaged with a top-level contender, but he crossed both items off his career list in impressive style on Saturday.
A fleet-footed striker who also possesses black-belt chops in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Aspinall controlled every moment of the action against sixth-ranked Alexander Volkov both on the feet and on the mat on the way to securing a submission victory after just 3:45 of the first round.
"That is a huge one for Tom Aspinall to get," Gooden said. "He takes down a guy in the top 10 and it's only big things for him going forward."
Indeed, Aspinall, who was ranked 11th entering the fight, employed his hand-speed advantage while landing strikes before getting Volkov to the mat with his initial takedown after just 45 seconds. He established side control and bloodied the Russian with elbow strikes on the ground, then got him to the mat again minutes later after eluding a head kick and charging forward with another takedown.
Once the two were horizontal again, Aspinall immediately seized Volkov's outstretched left arm and bent back on the elbow until the 33-year-old tapped to draw a rescue from referee Marc Goddard.
"That is just pure mixed martial arts at its best from a man weighting 250-plus pounds. That's impressive," Felder said. "I'd give it a 10 out of 10. That's how you do it. He showed everything."
Statistically speaking, Aspinall landed 35 strikes to Volkov's 13, converted on both his takedown attempts and had nearly two minutes of ground control time (1:54) in a fight that lasted just 3:45.
"I'm born for this," said Aspinall, who called out third-ranked Tai Tuivasa in the aftermath. "The secret is self belief. I believe in myself so much because of everyone around me."
Winner: Creating a Grudge Match
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Ladies and gentlemen, we have a grudge match.
Though it was clearly a Paddy Pimblett party on Saturday night in London, Ilia Topuria was happy to crash.
The unbeaten Spanish-based featherweight, working at lightweight after weight-cutting issues in his last outing, announced his presence with authority with a sweeping right hand that rendered opponent Jai Herbert motionless on the floor at 1:07 of the second round.
He then used his post-fight mic time to call out Pimblett, with whom he was involved in a fight week scuffle after Pimblett threw a bottle of hand sanitizer in his direction.
"He's a b---h. F--k him," Topuria said. "I want that blonde b---h."
Felder and his broadcast mates were all-in on the idea.
"This guy is unbelievable. I'm so impressed with Ilia Topuria," Felder said.
"You can sell that fight all day. Set it up."
Meanwhile, Pimblett took his turn in the spotlight three fights later and stopped Kazula Vargas with a rear-naked choke in less than four minutes. The next-generation Conor McGregor prompted chants and songs from the crowd before and after the bout, climbed over the fence to give Dana White a hug and returned to suggest his next one should be in a bigger setting.
"Get me a stadium, and we'll fill it," he said.
Again, Felder gave his thumbs-up to the proposition.
"Keep making these finishes and keep these fights entertaining and you'll be filling stadiums," he said. "He can fight and he can work on the microphone as well. He really is the complete package."
Whether it'll be Topuria alongside, though, remains to be seen.
The Englishman referenced the hotel fracas, but dismissed his rival's chatter by labeling him "hand sanitizer boy" and suggesting, "lions don't concern themselves with the opinions of sheep."
Stay tuned.
Winner: KO of the Year
3 of 7The polls have closed. The balloting is over.
There will be no knockout in 2022 any better than the one Molly McCann unleashed Saturday.
The popular UK-based flyweight had already made history by becoming the first British woman to appear on a main UFC card, but she did that feat one better with an instantly viral spinning-elbow obliteration of Brazilian opponent Luana Carolina in the final round of their scheduled three-rounder.
The sudden, jaw-dropping violence drew instant reactions from the ESPN crew.
"That is absolutely bonkers," Gooden said, as McCann leapt over the cage, hugged a beaming Dana White and strutted through the first few rows of fans before returning to the mat.
"This is one of those moments where you pinch yourself," Felder said.
McCann had already controlled the first two rounds with repeated barrages that sent her lanky, 5'6" opponent reeling around the Octagon. Carolina began the third with a bit more stability, though, and was working in close and moving forward when McCann felt the pressure, stepped to the side and whirled around to drive her right elbow into the right side of Carolina's face, rendering her instantly unconscious.
She remained horizontal for several minutes and wasn't up in time for Bruce Buffer's official recognition of the fourth spinning back elbow KO in UFC history.
"She's a long b-tch and I was ready to punch all night," McCann said. "I got those Irish-Scotch lungs in me, so I'm ready to punch all night."
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Loser: Doubting Paul Craig
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In fight-speak, Paul Craig was getting worked.
His scheduled light heavyweight three-rounder with ninth-ranked Nikita Krylov began in violent fashion, with the aggressive Ukrainian quickly getting him to the mat and rendering him semi-conscious with a torrent of elbows and fist strikes from the top position.
But that's precisely when Craig's oft-professed warrior mentality kicked in.
The battle-hardened Scotsman endured the punishment and maintained his equilibrium long enough to seize the moment when Krylov got wild. Craig isolated his foe's right arm and quickly threw up a triangle choke that prompted an instant submission at 3:58 of the opening round.
"He needs one second to throw up that triangle and you're screwed," Felder said. "The guy is all heart. He takes a beating sometimes in these fights, but he doesn't care. He's a warrior."
The 34-year-old is unbeaten in six fights with five wins and a draw since last losing in June 2019.
He's finished his foes in each of eight UFC wins since 2016 and has scored finishes in each of 17 overall wins since turning pro in 2013.
"This is an entertaining sport," said Craig, who'd arrived as the No. 11-ranked fighter at 205 pounds.
"Were you not entertained?"
Winner: Embracing the Moment
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Jack Shore was in his element.
The unbeaten Welsh bantamweight emerged from the locker room to partisan cheers from the London crowd and strutted toward the cage to the rollicking strains of Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes.
And once inside, the vibe didn't stop.
A 15-minute scrap with Russian grinder Timur Valiev wasn't easy, but Shore did enough in all aspects of the game to earn a narrow unanimous decision—taking two scorecards by a single point and another by two.
The win boosted Shore to 16-0 in a career stretching back to 2016 and was his fifth straight in the UFC since he arrived to the promotion in September 2019.
The fight was dead-even through two rounds before Shore separated himself in the third, initially chasing a finish after flooring Valiev with a right hand in the first minute and blasting him on the mat after scoring another knockdown with a perfectly timed left hook.
Shore landed 29 significant strikes in the final round alone and established 2 minutes, 35 seconds of ground control time, better than half of the 4:42 of control time he churned out for the entire fight.
And the crowd enjoyed every second.
"I love this crowd," Shore said. "It seems they love me as well. I love coming over here. It feels like Wales."
Tie: Preliminary Card Youth
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Sometimes youth is served. And sometimes it's not.
That was the case in the first two of the show's dozen bouts, where the promotion's youngest and third-youngest fighters experienced diametrically opposite results.
In the opening fight, unbeaten Russian-born and UK-based flyweight Muhammad Mokaev made his octagonal debut in quick-strike style, landing a hard left knee that drove Cody Durden to the floor and instantly locking in a right-arm guillotine choke that prompted a tap-out after just 58 seconds.
It was the second-fastest submission in UFC flyweight history for the precocious 21-year-old, who'd won six fights alongside a no-contest in the Brave Combat Federation and Celtic Gladiator promotions.
"He talks the talk and he can fight," Felder said. "He really has a ton of potential. This kid doesn't know how to lose but he does know how to win."
The next fight, however, wasn't quite so productive for the kid involved.
Welsh strawweight Cody McKenna scored all three of the takedowns across her 15-minute contest with Elise Reed, but was out-struck in two of three rounds and wound up on the short end of a split decision.
Two judges gave Reed, a 29-year-old from Sacramento, California, a decisive 29-28 scorecard edge while a third saw McKenna a 30-27 winner, giving her all three rounds.
The 22-year-old had gone 4-1 in the Cage Warriors promotion before winning on Dana White's Contender Series in August 2020 and defeating Kay Hansen on a Fight Night show three months later.
UFC Fight Night 204 Full Card Results
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Main Card
Tom Aspinall def. Alexander Volkov by submission (straight armbar), 3:45, Round 1.
Arnold Allen def. Dan Hooker by TKO (punches), 2:33, Round 1.
Paddy Pimblett def. Kazula Vargas by submission (rear-naked choke), 3:49, Round 1.
Gunnar Nelson def. Takashi Sato by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26).
Molly McCann def. Luana Carolina by KO (spinning elbow), 1:52, Round 3.
Ilia Topuria def. Jai Herbert by KO (punch), 1:07, Round 2.
Preliminary Card
Makwan Amirkhani def. Mike Grundy by submission (anaconda choke), 0:57, Round 1.
Sergei Pavlovich def. Shamil Abdurakhimov by TKO (punches), 4:03, Round 1.
Paul Craig def. Nikita Krylov by submission (triangle choke), 3:57, Round 1.
Jack Shore def. Timur Valiev by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27).
Elise Reed def. Cory McKenna by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28).
Muhammad Mokaev def. Cody Durden by submission (guillotine choke), 0:58, Round 1.
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