That feud with “Mr. Hand Sanitizer” will have to wait … for now.
Lightweight rising star Paddy Pimblett will instead fight fellow 155-pound phenom Jordan Leavitt in front of a hometown crowd as part of the upcoming UFC London main card, scheduled for Sat., July 23, 2022 inside O2 Arena in London, England.
The promotion announced the booking earlier today.
After a high-profile run through the Cage Warriors promotion across the pond, grabbing the promotion’s featherweight title along the way, Pimblett (18-3) made his Octagon debut at UFC Vegas 36 in Sept. 2021, stopping Luigi Vendramini by way of first-round knockout. “The Baddy” would return at UFC London the following March, making quick work of international veteran Rodrigo Vargas.
As for Leavitt, one year younger than his “Fight Night” foe at 26, he blasted his way into UFC by way of Dana White’s “Contender Series” back in summer 2020. In the two years that followed, the 10-1 “Monkey King” is 3-1 inside the Octagon and coming off consecutive victories over Matt Sayles (UFC Vegas 45) and Trey Ogden (UFC Vegas 51). Leavitt remains unranked at 155 pounds, just the way Pimblett likes it.
UFC London will be headlined by the heavyweight showdown between Curtis Blaydes and Tom Aspinall. Elsewhere on the ESPN+ fight card, Jack Hermansson and Darren Till collide at middleweight while Alexander Gustafsson and Nikita Krylov hook ‘em up at 205 pounds.
Stay tuned for more UFC London fight card announcements in the coming weeks.