Top UK heavyweight prospect Tom Aspinall will headline the UFC London card against Poland’s Marcin Tybura on July 2022, it has been confirmed.
The bout will take place almost exactly a year to the day after the 30-year-old Englishman suffered a serious knee injury in the opening seconds of a main event fight against Curtis Blaydes at London’s O2 Arena on July 23 last year. The (technical defeat due to a torn ACL) was Aspinall’s first loss in the UFC, and came on the back of five finishes scored by the Englishman by either TKO or submission — with none of his opponents lasting longer than six minutes and nine seconds in the cage with him.
The fight was confirmed by UFC president Dana White on Wednesday. It will be Aspinall’s third successive headline appearance at a UFC card in London. In March of last year, he defeated Russia’s Alexander Volkov by armbar submission at the 3:45 mark of the first round.
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“Time to scratch those itchy knuckles,” Aspinall wrote of the fight on Instagram. “I have missed fighting so much, more than happy to be back to work.”
Tybura, meanwhile, comes into his debut UFC main event on the back of a run which has seen him lose just one of his past eight fights, including wins against Ben Rothwell, Walt Harris and Blagoy Ivanov. The winner of the July fight will likely rise up the heavyweight rankings, with Aspinall currently listed in fifth spot and Tybura in 10th.
Ciryl Gane, Sergei Pavlovich, Stipe Miocic and Curtis Blaydes are currently ranked above Aspinall in the divisional standings. Champion Jon Jones is expected to defend his title against former champ Miocic later this year.
