Jai Herbert and Chris Padilla, UFC London ceremonial weigh-in Credit score: Patrick McCorry/Cageside Press
Capping off UFC London 2025’s preliminary card had been lightweights Chris Padilla and Jai Herbert, the latter no stranger to London’s O2 Area.
Herbert, a.okay.a. “The Black Country Banger,” was competing on the famed London venue for the fifth time in six fights. Regardless of a combined bag of outcomes at house, he was coming off a victory over Rolando Bedoya in Abu Dhabi final August.
There was a little bit of feeling out within the opening spherical of Herbert and Padilla, as each threw out kicks, probing punches, and feints. Padilla combined in stance switches, and used lateral motion on the skin to maintain Herbert guessing. In the direction of the top of the spherical, Padilla put Herbert on the fence, working for a takedown, however shortly ran out of time.
Spherical two had Herbert once more strolling his opponent down, whereas Padilla took a giant swing on a low kick and missed. In a clinch, the pair spun round, Padilla pondering takedown, however Herbert confirmed spectacular stability to remain on his ft. From there, he was in defensive mode, with Padilla persevering with to hunt a takedown whereas firing knees. A hip toss virtually obtained the job performed, however Herbert solely went to a knee and was instantly upright.
After two shut rounds, the light-weight affair was nonetheless anybody’s struggle. And there was nonetheless an absence of punches in bunches, with extra give attention to single strikes and grappling, together with a good head kick landed by Herbert earlier within the struggle. With two minutes left on the clock, Padilla once more modified ranges, driving Herbert into the fence searching for a takedown. They’d spin round, with Padilla sustaining the clinch and persevering with to pursue the takedown, to no avail. As a substitute they’d return to heart, with Herbert touchdown a knee and getting his arms going within the last 25 or so seconds. Actually not a barnburner, and never a lot uproar on the outcome, which noticed Padilla earn the nod on two scorecards.
Official End result: Chris Padilla def. Jai Herbert by cut up choice (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
