Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will return to United Kingdom for the upcoming UFC 286 pay-per-view (PPV) mixed martial arts (MMA) event, recently made official for Sat., March 18, 2022 at The O2 Arena in London, England.
No bouts were included in today’s announcement but newly-crowned welterweight champion Leon Edwards is expected to make his first 170-pound title defense against former division kingpin Kamaru Usman in the UFC 286 main event.
“It’s gonna be Usman vs. Edwards,” UFC President Dana White told Paddy Pimblett. “Everybody was asking me about Cardiff. It’s gonna be London. We looked into it.”
Fans hoping for a stadium show voiced their disappointment in the comments of the UFC UK Twitter account but the promotion can’t risk running in a venue that doesn’t have a roof because bad weather will bring the entire operation to a halt.
Expect UFC 286 fight card announcements to start trickling in over the next few weeks, if not days.