The upcoming UFC London card has received a lot of criticism since it was finalized.
This coming Saturday, the premier MMA promotion returns to the UK capital for another UFC London event.
In the main event, ranked featherweight contenders Lerone Murphy and Movsar Evloev clash, with the winner taking one huge step towards an undisputed title fight.
However, the standard of the card has been widely criticized by fans, especially compared to some of the previous events held in the o2 Arena.
Dana White hypes up UFC London event
Throughout his tenure as the UFC boss, Dana White has made it extremely clear that London is one of his favorite cities to host an event in.
And now just a few days out from the Fight Night, White has attempted to hype up the card, somewhat defending it against the criticism it continues to receive.
“It’s an unbelievable card, the card is fun,” White told TNT Sports.
“Seven undefeated fighters on the card, (I love the stats). I love it, I mean, this is what fighting is all about, this is what I always talk about,” White said in reference to the main event.
Despite his defense of the card, and especially the main event, he himself has had issues with Evloev and his fight style, calling his fight against Arnold Allen ‘the least fun fight ever’.
“For me, what’s at stake, what does it mean, what does it mean in the division? You know, and again, stakes never higher than they are for the main event in London this weekend and we get to do it in front of some of the best fans in the world.”
Although White has claimed the stakes for the main event are high, hinting that a title shot could be secured, fellow featherweight contender Jean Silva recently claimed he is fighting Alexander Volkanovski next.
With that, both Evloev and Murphy have stated that they haven’t been told that their UFC London main event is a number one contender fight, with the UFC likely keeping their options open.
In the co-main event, Luke Riley takes on Michael Aswell in what is just Riley’s second fight under the UFC banner.
That is a stark contrast compared to the promotion’s last few visits to the UK capital, with names like Tom Aspinall, Leon Edwards and Paddy Pimblett usually included in the offering.