Aspinall makes his return in London

Tom Aspinall will make his return to UFC action when he faces Marcin Tybura in the heavyweight main event of a Fight Night set for the O2 Arena in London on the evening of Saturday.

Aspinall (12-3) suffered a TKO defeat at the hands of Curtis Blaydes at the O2 Arena in July last year – the fight lasted just 15 seconds, as Aspinall suffered a major knee injury. The setback was a huge one for the 30-year-old, who had built up incredible momentum with a run of eight straight wins and looked set to be the next contender for the heavyweight title had he managed to overcome Blaydes.

After surgery and extensive physiotherapy required for recovery, Aspinall says he will return to the Octagon determined to take out his frustrations.

“I feel like I need to go back to the O2 Arena and absolutely spark someone,” the Manchester-born fighter explained. “And I’m itching to do it to like right that wrong. I want to knock someone out in the O2 Arena. … I couldn’t be happier that they’re putting me on the O2, as a main event as well. The same spot that it happened. Almost a year later to the day. I’ve got a lot to prove, I’ve got a chip on my shoulder and these heavyweights are in for a bad time now, let me tell you.”

He added, “I think that pre-injury Tom Aspinall and post-surgery Tom Aspinall are two completely different people. I think before, everything was going well and I was just blase about the whole thing... And I didn’t realise how much I loved this sport and how much I want to do it until it was potentially taken away from me. I had no idea how much I am desperate for greatness until it was almost taken away from me.”

Tybura (24-7) is chasing a hat-trick of wins (with victories in seven of his last eight trips to the Octagon) and was last in action in February, claiming a unanimous decision triumph over Blagoy Ivanov to take up a spot in the top 10 of the rankings.

Another home favourite is Molly McCann (13-5), who takes on Julija Stoliarenko (10-7) in the women’s flyweight co-main event and will be looking to recover from a surprise submission defeat to Erin Blanchfield in November last year.

“I invested so heavily in my training partners, recovery, preparation and nothing went wrong in the camp, everything went meticulous but the fight went f***ed up. I've had other camps where I'm holding together by string and I get these unreal finishes, so I don't know. It took me until February until I decided I wanted to fight again,” admitted the 33-year-old.

The rest of the main card features Nathaniel Wood v Andre Fili in the featherweight division; a middleweight match pitting Paul Craig against Andre Muniz; Lerone Murphy v Joshua Culibao in the featherweight division; and a lightweight opener between Jai Herbert and Fares Ziam.

UFC Fight Night: Aspinall v Tybura – Main card

Main event: Heavyweight: Tom Aspinall v Marcin Tybura

Women’s flyweight: Molly McCann v Julija Stoliarenko

Featherweight: Nathaniel Wood v Andre Fili

Middleweight: Paul Craig v Andre Muniz

Featherweight: Lerone Murphy v Joshua Culibao

Lightweight: Jai Herbert v Fares Ziam