Pimblett and McCann light up UFC London with stunning wins

Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett and Molly McCann lit up London’s O2 Arena as UFC returned to the capital for the first time in three years.

Pimblett (18-3) further enhanced his star power in the lightweight division with a fabulous victory over Rodrigo Vargas for his fourth-straight win.

The Liverpool fighter locked in a rear-naked choke to make Mexico’s Vargas to tap in the first round.

Pimblett’s team-mate Molly McCann made it 12 wins from 16 fights with a dominant display against Brazilian Luana Carolina.

Despite getting caught early by Vargas, Pimblett quickly recovered to flip the script and take control in the octagon before ending things quickly.

“It wasn’t as clean as I liked, but are you not entertained?” said Pimblett, who called out German-born Georgia Ilia Topuria after his win. “I have to get punched in the face to wake up! That was only like a five or six out of 10.

“See this Arena, the O2 – it’s too small. Get us to Anfield,” he added.

McCann, 31, stunned Carolina with a couple of stinging shots in the first round and she then controlled the next round after a well-timed takedown before finishing her opponent in the third with a brutal reverse spinning elbow to close out the contest and seal her second consecutive win in a row.

“We drill that every day,” Liverpudlian McCann said of her knockout. “I’m ready to go. I’m ready to punch all night. Thank you very much [Luana Carolina] for pushing me. I’m so happy.”

Salford’s Tom Aspinall takes on Russian Alexander Volkov in a massive heavyweight fight later.

Victory for Aspinall could send him into championship contention against the likes of Ciryl Gane, Stipe Miocic, Francis Ngannou, and Jon Jones.