Uriah Hall’s Next Fight May Be in England

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is always an exciting event to look forward to, with it being one of the most highly anticipated mixed martial arts programs across the world. With a combination of karate, judo, boxing, wrestling, jujitsu alongside a combination of other disciplines, it’s certainly not a sport for the fainthearted to watch. To think when it first came to North America, only eye-gouging and biting were off the table.

Amongst some of the big names in the industry includes Uriah Hall, a middleweight division fighter who has been training since the age of 16. Hall has previously competed as a kickboxer in the World Combat League as well as being a second-degree blackbelt holder under Tiger Schulmann’s MMA. With his last fight being held against Sean Strickland on August 7th, 2021, there have been rising rumors that his next fight will be held in England. This news became more apparent when Hall openly challenged Darren Hill on Twitter, causing further speculations. So, let’s have a look at the next UFC main events and how likely it is for the Ultimate Fighting Championship to be hosted in England.

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Upcoming UFC Schedule for 2022

To catch you up and prepare you for the upcoming year, here are all the fights that we know will be happening in 2022:

·       UFC Fight Night: Katter vs. Chikadze – January 15th @ UFC Apex, Las Vegas, NV

·       UFC 270: Ngannou vs. Gane – January 22nd @ Honda Center, Anaheim, CA

·       UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Strickland – February 5th @ UFC Apex, Las Vegas, NV

·       UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker – February 12th @ Toyota Center, Houston, TX

·       UFC Fight Night: Dariush vs. Makhachev – February 26th @ UFC Apex, Las Vegas, NV

·       UFC 272 – March 6th @ T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV

·       UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Ankalaev – March 12th @ UFC Apex, Las Vegas, NV

·       UFC Fight Night: Blachowicz vs. Rakic – March 26th @ Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH

These are the confirmed dates that we know so far. Keep checking back to see the updated schedule as more events are confirmed.

Uriah Hall challenges Darren Till

Speculations arose about the next UFC being hosted in London when Uriah Hall took to Twitter to challenge Liverpool’s Darren Till last month, saying, ‘Darren Till wanna do a backyard fight in your hometown?’. MMA Unhinged also tweeted that a Darren Till vs. Uriah Hall fight is in the works for UFC Fight Night which is due to take place on March 19th.

It’ll be an interesting and fresh fight for fans to see, as both fighters have lost their previous fights, Hall losing against Sean Strickland and Till suffering a defeat against Derek Brunson. Neither has ever fought one another previously.

Till especially has been under a lot of fire from the public ever since he moved divisions from welterweight to middleweight and hasn’t yet found himself winning many matches. Out of three fights since moving to the middleweight division, he has only found victory against Kelvin Gastelum. A hometown fight is sure to put pressure on both Till and Hall, who initiated the challenge.

Tom Aspinall overhears talks in Las Vegas

Further guesses that the next UFC will be happening in England came from UFC’s heavyweight fighter hailing from Manchester, Tom Aspinall. According to him, at his last fight in Las Vegas, whilst overhearing some conversations, it seemed as though the UFC wanted to come back to the UK. Although the UFC has not made any official announcements, it seems more and more likely that it will happen.

Aspinall also has a fight scheduled against Shamil Abudrakhimov on March 19th, so we can speculate that it’s probable that this may take place in London alongside Till and Hall.

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History of UFC in England

Previously, the UFC has been hosted in London 11 times, with the first event, UFC 38, being held in 2002 at the Royal Albert Hall. The next event happened after a gap of 5 years, but since 2007, a UK event has always taken place annually.

The last event to take place in London happened in 2019 and was headlined by Till vs. Masvidal.

From 2016 to 2019, London booked a more or less consistent slot for UFC fights in either March or April, so it wouldn’t be wrong to guess that the 2022 supposed fights will also take place around those months.

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