It will be the Paddy and Molly show once again come this July, when the UFC returns to London, England.
After weeks of speculation, promotion officials announced on Friday that lightweight Paddy Pimblett will face Jordan Leavitt at UFC London on July 23, 2022. The fight will be Pimblett’s second of the year, after he took part in the UFC’s return to the U.K. in March.
That event, like the July 23 Fight Night card, was hosted at the O2 Arena in London, England. And Pimblett, alongside teammate Molly McCann, unquestionably stole the show.
For the past several weeks, talk of Pimblett returning to action in July has been constant, especially with McCann already having a fight lined up for the card. Pimblett tempered expectations when he downplayed a potential match-up leaked from the UFC war room — but in the end, the UFC got a fight locked in.
Pimblett (18-3) has won his first two fights in the promotion, both inside of a round. In his debut last year, he stopped Luigi Vendramini by TKO; back in March, he secured a rear-naked choke of Kazula Vargas.
The Liverpool, England native has won four straight fights dating back to his Cage Warriors days.
Leavitt has won his last two fights under the UFC banner. “The Monkey King” submitted Matt Sayles, before edging out a split decision against Trey Ogden last month.
UFC London takes place March 23, 2022 at the O2 Arena in London, England, with the following fights reported for the event:
- Curtis Blaydes vs. Tom Aspinall
- Jack Hermansson vs. Darren Till
- Nikita Krylov vs. Alexander Gustafsson
- Paul Craig vs. Volkan Oezdemir
- Marc Diakiese vs. Damir Hadžović
- Molly McCann vs. Hannah Goldy
- Muhammad Mokaev vs. Charles Johnson
- Victoria Leonardo vs. Mandy Böhm
- Makwan Amirkhani vs. Jonathan Pearce
- Nicolas Dalby vs. Cláudio Silva
- Paddy Pimblett vs. Jordan Leavitt
