Sports
Mason Jones vs. Axel Sola Saved UFC London With Fight of the Night Performance
Let’s be honest with ourselves: There wasn’t a whole lot to celebrate coming out of UFC London. Movsar Evloev won in a very controversial decision and may not have done enough to earn a title shot. Michael Page and Sam Patterson put on legitimately one of the worst fights the Octagon has ever seen.
There just wasn’t a lot of inspiring performances that took place; even the crowd wasn’t the normal kind of energy for a UK MMA show.
But for 15 minutes of Octagon action, Mason Jones and Axel Sola made things different that night.
Taking place as the featured attraction for the preliminary card, UFC London was off to a rough start, with the only true highlights being Shanelle Dyer’s finish of Ravena Oliveira in the opening bout and a first-round finish by Brando Pericic. Jones and Sola had a lot of pressure on them to bring some excitement into the O2 Arena – and both of them did that, and then some.
Jones is a strong up-and-comer from a region with a great comeback story behind him. Jones was a Cage Warriors champion when he was first signed to the UFC, debuting in January 2021. Unfortunately, his first tenure did not go as he hoped, going 1-2 (1 NC) in the Octagon before being released after his last fight in July 2022.
One year later, Jones was back in Cage Warriors, winning four straight before returning to the UFC in 2025. His two fights in 2025 saw him have an entertaining war with Jeremy Stephens and score a highlight finish of Bolaji Oki. And since that loss in July 2022, Jones has continued to win and win.
Sola was going to be an interesting test for him, however. Sola was a champion in ARES FC and made his UFC debut with a finish of Rhys McKee. He entered the fight unbeaten at 11-0-1, and he was looking to use Jones to make a massive statement for his own rise.
Jones looked to bring his offensive display right off the bat, looking to take control and score an impactful win. That also became a detriment, however, when Sola landed a spinning elbow that knocked Jones down. Sola, a grappling specialist, added in a pair of takedowns during the first round and controlled the action to trouble Jones in the fight’s first five minutes. Jones, however, was able to use his strikes to open up a cut on Sola.
Jones’ further response to being down on the cards? Initiate a greater volume of striking, and that helped him overwhelm Sola while stopping any of his attempts to control the pace. Sola held his own, but Jones seemed to have the upper hand in round two. In fact, Jones notably did damage with knees.
Jones and Sola then went bold in the third round, swinging with everything they had for a fun ride in the final five minutes. Jones took over, however, and whalopped Sola with flurries near the fence as the seconds ticked down. Jones wasn’t able to get the finish, but he did get the win.
The UFC London card had quite a few low points to it, including low in entertainment value. And some fans have admitted on social media that they haven’t been as entertained by the UFC product in the past year or so, let alone what they’ve seen in 2026. While that will be debated, it can’t be debated that UFC London made PFL Madrid – which was already a solid event – look like UFC 100 compared to most of what was seen in London this past Saturday night.
But Mason Jones and Axel Sola proved to be the exception. Praises could be sung for Jones, for having the heart and determination to keep going after being in trouble and putting on another gritty display in a seventh straight victory. But it takes two to tango, so Sola deserves his flowers, too.
They really were a rain of sunshine on a cloudy day of fights.
Sports
Team Falcons, Team Spirit advance in group stage at BLAST Open Spring
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Team Falcons, FURIA, Team Spirit and The MongolZ each recorded wins on Sunday to stay alive in the BLAST Open Spring event in Copenhagen, Denmark and Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The Group A lower-bracket final on Monday is set between Team Falcons and FURIA, while Aurora Gaming and Natus Vincere previously secured the upper-bracket final.
The Group B lower-bracket final is between Team Spirit and The MongolZ, while Team Vitality and PARIVISION already had their spots in the upper-bracket final on Monday.
The 16 teams in the $400,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event were split into two groups of eight that are contesting a pair of double-elimination brackets. The top three finishers in each bracket will advance to the six-team playoffs. All matches will be best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final on March 29.
The winning team will earn $150,000 along with three BLAST Frequent Flyer tokens.
On Sunday, Team Falcons rallied for a 2-1 win in the Group A lower-bracket semifinal over TYLOO, who opened with a marathon 16-14 win on Inferno. The Falcons responded in a big way with a 13-1 win on Ancient and a 13-2 victory on Mirage.
Nikola “NiKo” Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina led Team Falcons with a plus-14 kill-death differential while posting 45 kills, and teammate Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin of Russia had 50 kills and a plus-12 differential. No TYLOO players had a positive K-D differential.
FURIA followed a similar path in the other Group A lower-bracket semifinal, defeating NRG 2-1. NRG opened with a 13-10 win on Mirage, then FURIA surged past with wins on Nuke (13-2) and Dust II (13-7).
Danil “moloday” Golubenko of Kazakhstan led FURIA with 61 kills and a plus-32 differential.
Team Spirit swept 9z Team 2-0 in the Group B lower-bracket semifinal, winning on Overpass and Dust II on matching 13-6 scores.
Danil “donk” Kryshkovets of the all-Russian Team Spirit posted 44 kills and a plus-22 K-D differential.
The MongolZ notched a 2-0 win over Team Liquid in the other Group B lower-bracket semifinal, winning 16-14 on Ancient and 13-10 on Mirage.
Ayush “mzinho” Batbold led the all-Mongolian Mongolz with 45 kills while recording a plus-8 differential. Jonathan “EIGE” Jablonowski of the United States paced Liquid with 52 kills and a plus-10 differential.
Monday’s schedule
–Group A upper-bracket final, Aurora Gaming vs. Natus Vincere
–Group A lower-bracket final, Team Falcons vs. FURIA
–Group B upper-bracket final, Team Vitality vs. PARIVISION
–Group B lower-bracket final, Team Spirit vs. The MongolZ
BLAST Open Spring prize pool (cash prize, BLAST Frequent Flyer tokens)
1. $150,000, 3
2. $60,000, 1
3-4. $40,000, 1
5-6. $20,000, 1
7-8. $10,000
9-12. $7,500 — TYLOO, NRG, 9z Team, Team Liquid
13-16. $5,000 — FaZe Clan, B8, MOUZ, Ninjas in Pyjamas
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tundra Esports, MOUZ unblemished to start ESL One Birmingham
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Tundra Esports and MOUZ went undefeated in Group A on Sunday as ESL One Birmingham 2026 began play with 16 matches in the United Kingdom.
The $1 million tournament, featuring 16 teams in a Dota 2 competition, will award $750,000 in prize money and $250,000 in club rewards as well as 35,460 EPT points spread among all participants.
The group stage runs from Sunday through Wednesday, with two single round-robin groups of eight teams each. All series consist of two games.
The top two teams from each group advance to the upper bracket of the playoffs. The third- and fourth-place teams are delegated to the lower-bracket playoffs, and the remaining teams are eliminated.
The playoffs are March 26-29 with a double-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-three except for the grand final, which is best-of-five.
Tundra Esports opened with a 2-0 sweep of PARIVISION, winning in 54 minutes on green and 29 minutes on red. Tundra also downed BetBoom Team in 30 minutes on green and 40 minutes on red.
MOUZ swept GamerLegion in 63 minutes on red and 46 minutes on green. MOUZ also swept REKONIX in 34 minutes on green and 29 minutes on red.
Team Yandex recorded a win and a tie on Sunday, while the remainder of Group A had a loss and a tie: BetBoom Team, GamerLegion, PARIVISION, REKONIX and Yakult Brothers.
In Group B, Aurora Gaming and Team Spirit are atop the standings with a win and a tie.
Aurora handled Team Falcons in 50 minutes and 26 minutes, both on green. Team Spirit and Aurora Gaming split their match, with the latter winning in 35 minutes on red and the former wining in 36 minutes on red.
Team Spirit also swept paIN Gaming with victories in 57 minutes on red and 30 minutes on green.
The following teams lost both matches: Nigma Galaxy, OG, Virtus.pro and Xtreme Gaming. Team Falcons and paIN Gaming each lost and tied after the first day.
Each group has eight matches scheduled for Monday.
Prize pool (prize money, club reward)
1. $250,000, $40,000
2. $100,000, $30,000
3. $80,000, $25,000
4. $60,000, $20,000
5-6. $40,000, $15,000
7-8. $27,500, $12,500
8-10. $20,000, $10,000
11-12. $17,500, $10,000
13-14. $15,000, $10,000
15-16. $10,000, $10,000
–Field Level Media
Sports
Spacestation Gaming stay hot in Overwatch Champions Series
A custom gaming keyboard backlit with red LED lights waits for tactile input before Manual took on Boone County in a Rocket League match, which was streamed on YouTube on Thursday, March 5, 2020. Spacestation Gaming recorded their second win in as many days by posting a 3-2 victory over Disguised on Sunday in the Overwatch Champions Series 2026 — North America Stage 1.
The Overwatch 2 online competition, with a prize pool of $75,000, features six teams playing a regular season with a round-robin format from March 21 to April 5. All matches are first-to-three.
The top four teams advance to the regional playoffs, which are April 10-12 and feature a double-elimination bracket. All matches are first-to-three except for the grand final, which is first-to-four.
Spacestation Gaming followed up their 3-0 victory over LuneX on Saturday by outlasting Disguised on Sunday.
Disguised jumped out to a fast start by sandwiching a 2-1 victory on Lijiang Tower and a 3-1 triumph on Aatlis around a 3-0 setback on Rialto. Spacestation Gaming, however, bounced back with a 3-1 win on Numbani and 89.69m-62.11m victory on Runasapi.
LuneX Gaming rebounded from Saturday’s setback with a 3-0 victory over Extinction.
LuneX notched a 2-1 win on Lijiang Tower, a 128.06m-51.42m victory on Esperanca and 3-2 triumph on Suravasa.
Saturday’s Week 2 matches:
–Team Liquid vs. Dallas Fuel
–Disguised vs. Extinction
Standings
1. Spacestation Gaming, 2-0, +4
2. Dallas Fuel, 1-0, +2
3. Team Liquid, 1-0, +1
4. LuneX Gaming, 1-1, 0
5. Disguised, 0-2, -3
6. Extinction, 0-2, -4
Prize pool:
1. $30,000, qualifies for Champions Clash, NA Stage 2
2. $15,000, qualifies for Champions Clash, NA Stage 2
3. $12,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2
4. $8,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2
5-6. $5,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2 promotion/relegation
–Field Level Media
Team Falcons, Team Spirit advance in group stage at BLAST Open Spring
Tundra Esports, MOUZ unblemished to start ESL One Birmingham
