UFC London is less than 72 hours away. Saturday night (UK time), while the eyes of the American sports fandom will be peeled on the start of the second round of March Madness in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, the UFC heads to England for another edition of UFC Fight Night.
LONDON HERE WE COME 🛫@Leon_EdwardsMMA takes on Sean Brady in a welterweight clash at #UFCLondon
[ Live on @ESPNPlus 📺 ] pic.twitter.com/p10bdTsnwa
— UFC (@ufc) March 17, 2025
O2 Arena is the site of this Saturday evening’s UFC London. Stateside, live coverage begins in the early afternoon at 1 pm ET/ 10 am PT with the prelims.
Main card action caps the day at 4 pm ET/ 1 pm PT on ESPN+ wall-to-wall. Absent of any late changes to the schedule, the final version of UFC London features a full 13-fight card from the No. 1 MMA promotion in the world.
The night is capped off by Leon Edwards (22-4, 1 NC MMA, 14-3, 1 NC UFC) squaring off against Sean Brady (17-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) in the main event of the evening. Our focus on this day, however, is the undercard.
In Fight Week mode ✍️#UFCLondon | @Leon_EdwardsMMA | Sean Brady pic.twitter.com/g9H7byHKj9
— UFC (@ufc) March 18, 2025
UFC London Featured Prelim: Jai Herbert vs. Chris Padilla
At the top of the bill for the undercard is a bout in the lightweight division matching Jai Herbert (13-5-1 MMA, 3-4-1 UFC) against Chris Padilla (15-6 MMA, 2-0 UFC), an alumnus of both Bellator and CES MMA. Herbert, who sported a perfect 5-0 mark in Cage Warriors from 2018 to 2019, enters UFC London on Saturday night having gone 2-2-1 in his last five fights.
Most recently, he returned to the win column on Aug. 3, 2024 with a unanimous decision victory in Abu Dhabi over Rolando Bedoya (14-4 MMA, 0-3 UFC) on the undercard. That defeat was Bedoya’s third in succession after getting his hand raised in victory 11 times in succession.
Saturday’s fight will mark Herbert’s 20th walk to the cage in his professional career and his ninth under the UFC promotional banner. He’s got a challenging assignment this weekend, however.
Across the way, Chris Padilla will be entering the O2 Arena for UFC London with a record of 5-0 in his last five fights. Prior to joining the UFC’s active roster in the spring of 2024, he held the Up Next Fighting Lightweight Championship.
Right after Labor Day in September of last year, he scored a second-round TKO (doctor’s stoppage) after his opponent, Rong Zhu, could not press forward in the fight due to an eye injury caused by an elbow shot. Zhu was hospitalized after the contest.
Padilla may be in the early days of his UFC tenure, but he’s already shown to be a force to be reckoned with inside the Octagon when the cage door shuts.
UFC London Co-Featured Prelim: Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Felipe dos Santos
Immediately beforehand, the action shifts to 125 lbs for the co-featured prelim between Cage Warriors alumnus Lone’er Kavanagh (8-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Felipe dos Santos (8-2, 1 NC MMA, 1-2 UFC). Kavanagh comes into the weekend having yet to lose thus far as a pro.
Back in November, the 2024 Contender Series graduate traveled to Macau to make a successful UFC promotional debut by way of unanimous decision against Jose Ochoa (7-1, 1 NC MMA, 0-1 UFC) after securing his promotional deal last August over An Tuan Ho by way of left hook in the opening round.
Kavanagh has a history of securing highlight-reel finishes. Can he score another one in front of the London crowd?
Meanwhile, Felipe dos Santos will make the walk on the strength of a 3-2 record in his last five bouts. Most recently, he exited the cage on the losing end of a unanimous decision to Andre Lima on Sept. 7 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, NV.
dos Santos will be headed into enemy territory Saturday in UFC London. Sometimes in sports, teams and/or athletes will crack under the pressure of having to compete in a hostile environment. How will he respond to the pressure?
UFC London Prelims: Marcin Tybura vs. Mick Parkin
Also on the undercard, you’ll see a heavyweight affair, one of only two all-ranked matchups on the card, between No. 8 contender Marcin Tybura (26-9 MMA, 13-8 UFC) and No. 13 contender Mick Parkin (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC.)
Tybura will be making his 36th career appearance in the sport this coming Saturday night and he does so with a record of 3-2 in his last five fights dating back to February of 2023. Last November, he touched down in New York for UFC 309 and a fight with Jhonata Diniz (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) at Madison Square Garden.
At the end of the second round, after Tybura repeatedly landed elbow to Diniz’ face, the fight doctor stepped in and called a halt to the proceedings. Marcin Tybura is a seasoned veteran of the fight game, but his adversary is a tough customer at the shop.
In the other corner, Mick Parkin has yet to lose thus far in his professional career. He’s been away from the cage for close to eight months. Back in July of last year, he fought on UFC 304’s early prelims, knocking out Lukasz Brzeski (9-6-1, 1 NC MMA, 1-5 UFC) halfway through the first round.
It’ll be a partisan crowd for Parkin at UFC London this Saturday night for what will be the most critical fight to-date in his tenure with the promotion. He’s on the cusp of a top-10 spot at 265. Can he score the win in a crucial “home game?”
Final Thoughts
Which fight or fights are you looking forward to on UFC London’s prelims? Let us know in the comments.
