With tickets due to go on sale this Friday, UFC London is still without a main event.
There have been rumblings for some time about the possibility of former middleweight champion Michael Bisping headlining the card in what would be his retirement fight. Those rumours were put to bed last night when Bisping tweeted to confirm he would not be fighting.
Don't buy tickets to see me fight in London. I'm not fighting. Just spoke with ufc.
— michael (@bisping) January 30, 2018
While the news will disappoint many, you have to respect Bisping for letting his fans know in advance of tickets being released. There is no word of whether this will signal the end for Bisping. There is still a chance that he will take a last fight before retiring, it just won’t be in London.
Another potential main event was rumoured to be rising British star Darren Till vs SBG trained Gunnar Nelson. Unfortunately for fans hopeful of seeing Till headline the card in London, this too seems unlikely to happen.
SBG chief John Kavanagh tweeted yesterday conforming that Nelson had signed to fight but Till was unable to reciprocate.
I'm sure Mr. Till will make his own statement but I believe he's ill. He has however agreed to face Gunni later in the year, speedy recovery 👍 However for now we need someone for March 17th. So if you're a ufc WW get onto Sean and get paid. Hope to get matched soon 🤞
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) January 30, 2018
Even more troubling is the news that the UFC are struggling to find an available welterweight who is prepared to take on Nelson in London to save the main event.
I can tell you ufc have asked almost every WW who's not currently matched/injured and everyone busy that night for some reason? A chance to main event a good European show and everyone getting their hair washed. Bizarre. https://t.co/C6i0IgyNqr
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) January 30, 2018
Nelson is much more dangerous than his number 14 ranking in the UFC welterweight rankings would have you believe. With that in mind it is understandable that the UFC might be struggling to find a willing partner to take him on in just 6 weeks time.
With both of the proposed main events seemingly in doubt and tickets on sale in a matter of days, expect the UFC to move quickly to salvage the event with a big name headline fight. If that doesn’t happen, you have to expect that ticket sales will be poor at best.
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