Who won the UFC fight last night (July 22, 2023)?
The UFC returned to London nearly three months after Leon Edwards defended his UFC welterweight title against Kamaru Usman. The UFC London card on July 22 delivered on the action, to say the least. After a relatively uneventful start in the preliminary card, the event gathered steam with some incredible performances on the main card and ended on a high note.
In the main event, Tom Aspinall registered a statement win over Marcin Tybura in his much-awaited comeback fight. The 30-year-old heavyweight had been on the sidelines since suffering a knee injury in the Curtis Blaydes fight last July. One year later, Aspinall returned as the headliner of the UFC London card. The Brit returned as if he never left and secured a quick TKO win over Marcin Tybura, who got a two-fight winning streak snapped.
Aspinall was stringing together combinations from the get-go to get a resounding win. An early combo visibly stunned Marcin Tybura and a perfectly placed straight right sent him down quickly. The local boy followed up with a few ground strikes before the referee called a stop to the contest, awarding a TKO win to Aspinall at the 1:13 mark of the first round.
The co-main event saw Julija Stoliarenko make quick work of local star and fan favorite fighter Molly McCann in the flyweight division. Heading into the contest, McCann was a -215 favorite over the +185 underdog Stoliarenko. Although a submission loss to Erin Blanchfield had taken some momentum off ‘Meatball Molly’, she is known for shining bright in front of the London crowd.
However, Stoliarenko showed a willingness to trade shots with McCann and took the fight to the ground with relative ease. She took McCann’s back and locked in the armbar, getting a tap at the 01:55 mark of the first round.
The featherweight showdown between Nathaniel Wood and Andre Fili elevated the fight card to a whole new level with constant back-and-forth action. The fight saw both men rock each other multiple times over the course of three rounds. Neither man accepted defeat and kept marching forward with evil intentions.
In the end, Nathaniel Wood had done enough to convince the judges. All three judges gave two out of three rounds to Wood, declaring him a winner by unanimous decision.
Longtime UFC light heavyweight Paul Craig, who made his middleweight debut at UFC London, impressed fight fans with his newfound striking arsenal. Craig fought Andre Muniz on the main card to start his middleweight run. He utilized kicks wisely throughout the fight and finished the fight at the 04:00 mark of the second round via vicious elbows on the ground.
Fares Ziam defeated Jai Herbert via unanimous decision [29-28, 29-28, 30-27] in their lightweight fight. UFC featherweight Lerone Murphy also registered a dominant win over Joshua Culibao on the main card, winning all three rounds on the scorecards [30-26, 30-26, 30-27]. The main card opening bout between Davey Grant and Daniel Marcos ended in a split-decision [28-29, 29-28, 29-28] win for the latter.
UFC Fight Night: Aspinall vs Tybura full card results
Main card
Heavyweight: Tom Aspinall defeats Marcin Tybura via TKO at 1:13 of the first round
Women’s flyweight: Julija Stoliarenko defeats Molly McCann via submission due to an armbar at 1:55 of the first round
Featherweight: Nathaniel Wood defeats Andre Fili via unanimous decision [29-28, 29-28, 29-28]
Middleweight: Paul Craig defeats Andre Muniz via TKO due to elbows at 4;40 of the second round
Lightweight: Farez Ziam defeats Jai Herbert via unanimous decision [29-28, 29-28, 30-27]
Featherweight: Lerone Murphy defeats Joshua Culibao vis unanimous decision [30-26, 30-26, 30-27]
Bantamweight: Daniel Marcos defeats Davey Grant via split decision [28-29, 29-28, 29-28]
Preliminary card
Welterweight: Jonny Parsons defeats Danny Roberts via TKO due to punches at 4:57 of the second round
Lightweight: JoelAlvarez defeats Marc Diakiese via submission due to brabo choke at 4:26 of the second round
Heavyweight: Mick Parkin defeats Jamal Pogues via unanimous decision [30-27, 30-27, 30-27]
Middleweight: Makhmud Muradov defeats Bryan Barberena via unanimous decision [30-27, 30-27, 30-27]
Women’s bantamweight: Ketlen Vieira defeats Pannie Kianzad via unanimous decision [29-28, 29-28, 29-28]
Lightweight: Chris Duncan defeats Yanal Ashmouz via unanimous decision [30-27, 30-27, 29-28]
Women’s strawweight: Bruna Brasil defeats Shauna Bannon via unanimous decision [29-28, 29-28, 30-27]
Flyweight: Jafel Filho defeats Daniel Barez via submission due to an arm-triangle choke at 3:26 of the first round