The Octagon is returning to London, England in 2025 for a Fight Night event that will take place at the O2 Arena on March 22. Crucially, as was stated in the announcement via UFC Europe, the event will take place at prime time in the UK unlike UFC 304 that was held earlier this year.
In July, the promotion hosted an event as the new Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester and due to it being a PPV card, the fights took place throughout Saturday night and well into the early hours of Sunday morning in order to cater for the US audience.
The fact that this card will be a Fight Night event rather than a PPV card means that the English fans will have to wait a bit longer before the interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall returns on home soil after successfully defending his belt in a rematch with Curtis Blaydes earlier this year.
London’s last UFC event was also headlined by Aspinall in his return from injury where he faced Marcin Tybura and finished him in the first round. The event in July of 2023 also featured the likes of Molly McCann, Nathaniel Wood, Paul Craig and Lerone Murphy.
When looking at potential main events for this card, several Brits are all in position for big fights in the near future.
Both Arnold Allen and Murphy have their eyes on the featherweight top 10 as well as welterweights like Michael “Venom” Page or a returning Leon Edwards being potential candidates. Paddy Pimblett would undoubtedly sell the Arena out all by himself but it seems likely that his next outing will be on PPV once again.
The UFC isn’t going to be hard pressed to fill this card with home crowd favorites as is often the case when the Octagon makes the trip across the pond.