The UFC are set to return to England, with UFC 286 set to land in London. The venue will be at the O2 Arena and tickets will be on general sale in January, with Fight Club members able to get early access to tickets on January 25th.
As of right now, the event currently doesn't have any fights booked. The event will take place on March 18th and will likely be in high-demand given the rise of English-based talent in the UFC.
Paddy Pimblett is a fighter English fans will be keen to watch again, with 'The Baddy' making his UFC pay-per-view debut this weekend at UFC 282. Pimblett's close friend Molly McCann has also gained a large following in England. She'll be eager to get back to winning ways after losing against Erin Blanchfield in her previous outing.
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Jamaican-born Leon Edwards would also seem like an obvious choice to headline UFC 286. Edwards has made Birmingham his home and is a crowd-favorite amongst the English fanbase.
'Rocky' defeated Kamaru Usman at UFC 278, winning the welterweight belt. Edwards snatched a win late into the bout, with Usman receiving a stunning head-kick to end the contest in the fifth and final round. A rematch between the two welterweights in London would be an amazing headline event and would also make a lot of sense given the ending to their UFC 278 meeting.
Watch Edwards win the UFC welterweight title here:
What has Dana White said about Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman 3 at UFC 286?
UFC 286 would seem like the perfect host for a trilogy bout between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman. Dana White seemed very keen to make the rematch shortly after UFC 278.
The UFC president was also open to hosting the fight in England at the time, with talks of Wembley being joked about. However, UFC 286 has been confirmed for the O2 Arena and is currently lacking any bouts.
When speaking about Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman 3 after their UFC 278 bout, Dana White stated (transcribed via TalkSport):
"How do you not do a [rematch]? F***! Wembley? I don’t know. I’m scared to go outside, and I’m definitely scared to go outside in England. I’m serious but joking about Wembley. Anything is possible in England now. It would be fun but scary at the same time. The weather isn’t the greatest over there in England."
Watch Usman and Edwards speak about their first UFC meeting here: