UFC London is upon us. This Saturday night in the United Kingdom, the No. 1 MMA promotion in the world begins its spring schedule of events with another installment of UFC Fight Night.
As usual, if you’re watching the fights from the United States of America, you can view UFC London wall-to-wall on ESPN+. Live coverage of this week’s UFC Fight Night kicks off at 1 pm ET/ 10 am PT with the prelims. Main card action closes out the itinerary at 4 pm ET/ 1 pm PT live from O2 Arena.
If there are no 11th-hour postponements on the card, the final version of Saturday night’s event will feature 13 fights. There’s no time like the present to dive into some of these entertaining contests. Let’s get started.
UFC London Main Event: No. 1 Contender Leon Edwards vs. No. 5 Contender Sean Brady
There are only three all-ranked bouts on UFC London over the weekend, with two of them right next to one another on the bout order. At the top of the bill in the United Kingdom on Saturday night is a crucial bout at 170 lbs.
No. 1 contender Leon Edwards (22-4, 1 NC MMA, 14-3, 1 NC UFC) will make the walk for the 28th time in his career to meet No. 5 contender Sean Brady (17-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC). This is a five-round affair at five minutes apiece to close out the night’s activities.
Leon Edwards will enter UFC London on Saturday evening having posted a record of 4-1 in his last five bouts. He seeks to return to the win column this weekend after having suffered a unanimous decision loss last July 27 at the hands of current champion Belal Muhammad (24-3, 1 NC MMA, 15-3, 1 NC UFC) during UFC 304 in London.
Muhammad still has yet to make his initial defense of the strap, however. A planned contest that would have paired Muhammad against undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov (19-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) at UFC 310 was scrapped due to the former suffering a foot infection.
The champ will now make his defense of his belt in May versus Jack Della Maddalena, who Edwards was supposed to have met this weekend in UFC London. Should Leon Edwards get his hand raised in victory here, the winner of the Muhammad vs. Maddalena tilt on May 10 awaits him later this year. He’ll have the home crowd’s support here, too.
Can Edwards make the fans smile on Saturday?
Across the way, Sean Brady has gone 4-1 in his last five contests dating back to May of 2021. Currently, he’s on a two-fight winning streak. Brady last entered a cage for an MMA bout in September of last year.
On the Saturday after Labor Day, he scored a unanimous decision after 25 minutes over 30-fight veteran Gilbert Burns (22-8 MMA, 15-8 UFC). Brady will be entering hostile territory this weekend when the cage door closes for the fight against Leon Edwards. Only time will tell if he’ll be able to spoil the party in England.
He's here to steal the show 😤
Sean Brady looks to cause madness in the welterweight Top 5 this weekend!
[ #UFCLondon | LIVE Saturday 4pmET on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/W7BPadfiEc
— UFC (@ufc) March 20, 2025
UFC London Co-Main Event: No. 3 Contender Jan Blachowicz vs. No. 6 Contender Carlos Ulberg
Immediately beforehand, the action shifts to 205 for a contest pitting No. 3 contender Jan Blachowicz (29-10-1 MMA, 12-7-1 UFC) against No. 6 contender Carlos Ulberg (11-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC), a 2020 alumnus of Contender Series. This is a three-round bout at five minutes per round.
Blachowicz will make his first walk to the cage since 2023 on Saturday night sporting a record of 3-1-1 in his last five contests. Due to shoulder injuries requiring procedures, a planned bout versus Aleksandar Rakic (14-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC) was scrubbed for the second time ahead of UFC 297 in January of last year.
The initial booking in 2022 was scrapped amid Blachowicz sustaining an injury to his neck. When we last saw the No. 3 contender at light heavyweight, it was during UFC 291 in Salt Lake City in June of 2023. That night, he was on the losing end of a split decision to “Poatan”, Alex Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) after three rounds .
He’s been away from the cage for around 21 months. With a clean bill of health now afforded to him, is his return to competition going to be successful?
In the other corner, Carlos Ulberg comes into UFC London having posted a perfect 5-0 record in his last five appearances as part of an ongoing seven-fight winning streak, extended by unanimous decision over Volkan Ozedemir(20-8 MMA, 8-7 UFC) in Macau last November.
He has proven to be a dominant force on fight night of late. Of the seven wins on his current streak, five have been recorded inside the distance, including four before the first round even ended.
Ulberg is on an incredible run. Another win on Saturday firmly puts him in the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship picture.
UFC London: Gunnar Nelson vs. Kevin Holland
Also on the UFC London main card, you’ll see a fight in the welterweight division pairing Gunnar Nelson (19-5-1 MMA, 10-5 UFC) with Kevin Holland (26-13, 1 NC MMA, 13-10, 1 NC UFC). Gunnar Nelson enters O2 Arena with a mark of 3-2 in his last five bouts.
Currently, he’s on a two-fight winning streak. Like Blachowicz in the co-main event, Nelson hasn’t stepped in the famed Octagon since 2023, when he stopped Bryan Barberena inside the opening round by way of submission (armbar) during UFC 286 from the very same O2 Arena where UFC London is being held. Recently, Nelson delved into why he’s been out of action for so long.
“I’ve been coaching quite a bit, focusing on the team and not as much myself,” he said on an episode of The Ariel Helwani Show. “You always have something. You have been fighting for many, many years, so there is always something, but nothing serious.”
Two years is a long time to be away from competition in MMA. How much ring rust does Gunnar Nelson have going into this one?
When it comes to Kevin Holland, he’s got a quick turnaround going into UFC London. Holland will be making his second walk to the cage in just over two months’ time, but he does so on a two-fight losing streak and a 1-4 record in the last five tilts.
Back in January, Holland was stopped by Reinier de Ridder (19-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) with a rear-naked choke in the opening round of their fight in UFC 311 from Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA.
By the time Saturday rolls around, just 63 days will have passed between contests. Will he short hiatus yield to a victory for Holland?
Final Thoughts
Which main card fight or fights are you looking forward to on UFC London? Let us know in the comments.
