UFC London preliminary card bout sees punches thrown after final horn

It is somewhat common for UFC athletes to develop adversarial feelings towards an opponent in the leadup to a fight, but usually once the fight ends so does the animosity.

That couldn’t be said for lightweights Shaqueme “Shem” Rock and Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady who didn’t stop throwing punches once the final horn had sounded at the end of their preliminary card bout Saturday at a UFC Fight Night event at the O2 Arena in London, England.

At the conclusion of Round 3, Al-Selwady walked away with his hands raised, thinking he had done enough to win the fight. Rock approached Al-Selwady and attempted to shake his hand but Al-Selwady shrugged off the handshake and cursed at Rock, who responded by giving Al-Selwady a light tap on the cheek.

Al-Selwady then responded by throwing a punch at Rock that missed as the referee and other commission officials separated the athletes.

The pair did eventually shake hands as the judges' rendering was announced. Al-Selwady’s name was read as the winner and his hand was raised following a clean sweep of the scorecards.

It was not immediately clear if this exchange will warrant any supplemental discipline, considering the UFC and athletic commissions tend not to view incidents like this one favourably.

Infamously back in 2010, former welterweight star Paul Daley was permanently banned from the UFC by president and CEO Dana White after Daley threw a punch at Josh Koscheck after the conclusion of their UFC 113 co-main event grudge match.

In other bouts on the London prelim card, lightweights Mason Jones and Axel Sola left it all in the cage in the featured preliminary bout. Jones of Wales earned a hard-fought unanimous decision victory.

After recovering from an opening-round spinning elbow from France’s Sola, Jones took control and, after 15 minutes, Sola was bloodied, slumped over exhausted, and had just suffered the first pro loss of his mixed martial arts career.

Jones has won seven in a row overall in the past three years and is 3-0 in his second stint in the UFC following a flawless four-fight run in the Cage Warriors promotion from 2023 through 2024.

Nathaniel Wood extended his winning streak to four in a row with a split decision over the debuting Losene Keita. The 145-pounders spent the duration of their matchup on the feet with Wood out-landing Kieta 67 to 52 in significant strikes over three rounds in a high-skill, technical tilt. Wood was born in London and is now 5-0 in the UFC when fighting in the city.

Keita joined the UFC last August as a touted two-division champion in OKTAGON, a Czech-based MMA organization. The Belgian-Guinean star was originally scheduled to debut at UFC Paris this past September against Patricio “Pitbull” Freire but the bout was cancelled when Keita missed weight by three pounds the day before the event.

Heavyweights Louie Sutherland and Brando Pericic each hit the scale Friday one pound shy of the heavyweight limit and the 264-pound behemoths didn't require a full round to settle their clash in London.

Australia’s Pericic was able to defend early takedown attempts from Scotland’s Sutherland and a flurry of punches left Sutherland scrambling to find his bearings. The six-foot-five Pericic persisted, the six-foot-three Sutherland covered up, and the referee waved off the fight just 1:48 into the opening round. Pericic called for a spot on the upcoming Fight Night card in Perth, Australia on May 2 and said ideally he’d be matched with a contender ranked in the top 10 or 15.

In other heavyweight action, Mario Pinto improved to 12-0 professionally and 3-0 under the UFC banner with a unanimous decision over 25-year-old Brazilian newcomer Felipe Franco, who replaced England’s Mick Parkin on short notice.

A scheduled women’s bantamweight bout between England’s Melissa Mullins and Brazil’s Luana Carolina was cancelled Friday at the weigh-ins due to regulatory reasons after Carolina stepped on the scale overweight by a whopping eight pounds and was not cleared. Mullins was in tears as she hit the scale knowing that she wouldn’t be fighting in front of her home fans.

That meant the lone women’s bout on the card was a strawweight contest between England’s Shanelle Dyer and Brazil’s Ravena Oliveira.

Dyer opened the preliminary card with a second-round technical knockout win in her UFC debut. Dyer impressed UFC brass so much in her performance in September on the Contender Series that she earned a UFC contract despite the fact that she lost a decision that night.

The 24-year-old who trains with Great Britain Top Team in London stunned Oliveira with a punch, then followed up with a head kick that sent Oliveira to the canvas. Seconds later, Dyer had her hands raised in victory.

Also on the prelims, Lithuania’s Mantas Kondratavicius and Brazil’s Antonio Trocoli improbably went the distance at middleweight.

Kondratavicius had never previously required the scorecards and Trocoli hadn’t gone a full 15 minutes since 2018. Kondratavicius came close to finding a finish in the second round, dropping Trocoli early with an elbow from the clinch and later getting a tight squeeze on a choke attempt. Kondratavicius ultimately got the win via unanimous decision. 

Saturday’s card was the 17th UFC event in London in the organization’s history and the sixth UFC event held at The O2 in London since 2022.