After a full year on the shelf, UFC standout Tom Aspinall is ready to return.
Aspinall, No. 5 in the official UFC heavyweight rankings, has been booked to headline the promotion’s Fight Night event July 22 at The O2 in London, where he will take on No. 10 Marcin Tybura. UFC president Dana White announced the fight booking Wednesday on social media.
U.K.’s Aspinall, 30, will step into the octagon for the first time since last July, almost exactly one year to the day that he suffered a freak knee injury in his headlining fight with Curtis Blaydes also at The O2. Aspinall injured his knee after landing some leg kicks on Blaydes, which caused his knee to buckle and gave him an injury TKO loss after just 15 seconds. Aspinall underwent surgery shortly after and has been working to return ever since.
Prior to the freak incident, Aspinall (12-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) was on a nine-fight winning streak, which included his first five fights in the UFC, all finishes, as he was rapidly establishing himself as a title contender in the division.
Tybura, 37, has won seven of his past eight and is on a two-fight winning streak against Alexandr Romanov and Blagoy Ivanov, both decisions.
Tybura’s lone defeat in that stretch was a decision to Alexander Volkov, whom Aspinall submitted in the first round.
With the addition, here is the updated UFC London card on July 22:
- Tom Aspinall vs. Marcin Tybura
- Molly McCann vs. Julija Stoliarenko
- Yanal Ashmouz vs. Chris Duncan
- Jai Herbert vs. Fares Ziam
- Davey Grant vs. Daniel Marcos
- Mick Parkin vs. Jamal Pogues
- Joel Alvarez vs. Marc Diakiese
- Pannie Kianzad vs. Ketlen Vieira
- Jonny Parsons vs. Danny Roberts
- Josh Culibao vs. Lerone Murphy
