Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
While it’s most commonly based in America, the UFC is enjoyed by fans all over the world. As such, it also attracts talent from all over the world, which is why there are fighters from every continent on its roster. Today we’re looking at UFC fighters who hail from the land of America’s greatest ally – the United Kingdom.
The UK has its own MMA promotions, though none of them are as big as the UFC and it isn’t a big draw for many Brits. That’s why those interested tune into the UFC and their fighters dream of fighting in Las Vegas one day, not their local sports hall. Another reason for the UFC’s popularity is that you can find UFC odds anywhere!
When thinking about the most famous and influential British fighter, Michael Bisping is the one that comes to mind. Even without focusing on him being British, he’s one of those famous legacy fighters from the UFC’s 21st-Century heyday. Having been born in Nicosia, but on a British military base, he has roots in Britain, Ireland, and Poland.
He was the first British fighter to compete in one of UFC’s main events at UFC 78, where he lost to Rashad Evans. He later proved himself to be a title contender, knocking out Luke Rockhold in the first round at UFC 199 to become the first British champ. It was a huge upset for many UFC fans at the time. Even today, no other British fighter has held a UFC title. For his fighting performance and his many British firsts, he made the UFC Hall of Fame quite recently in 2019.
Leon Edwards is perhaps best known for his eight-fight streak in the UFC between 2016 and 2021. While he was born in Jamaica, which is a member of the Commonwealth established by Britain, he moved to the UK at a young age. After he and his family were troubled with crime, he was able to leave the criminal elements of his life behind after discovering MMA.
Upon reaching the UFC, he lost a 2014 bout and quickly made a name for himself in his second, where he delivered one of the fastest knockouts in UFC history eight seconds into the fight. During his winning streak, he beat big names like Donald Cerrone and Rafael dos Anjos. His streak ended after an accidental eye poke to Belal Muhammad. More recently, he beat Nate Diaz by UD in May 2021.
Our next British fighter is actually a personal favorite of UFC President Dana White. Fighting in the bantamweight division, Brad Pickett was born in London itself and made a name for himself with promotions like Cage Rage and Ultimate Challenge MMA. He even beat Demetrious Johnson in a pre-UFC/WEC merger fight.
When Johnson stood up to take the bantamweight champion title, it could have been Pickett, but he had sustained an injury. After going back and forth with wins and losses, Pickett decided to drop to flyweight decision before returning after a couple of losses, then retiring.
Hailing from Sunderland, in the North of England, Ross Pearson is another British fighter who has fought across three of the UFC’s weight divisions. Unlike the British fighters we’ve covered so far, he entered the UFC with much fanfare as the lightweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 9 – which pitted US fighters versus UK ones.
Once in the UFC, he got to fight and beat Ryan Couture, son of Pearson’s MMA hero Randy Couture. His most memorable bout was at UFC 185, where he knocked Sam Stout out cold in 2015. From there, the rest of his career was sloppy, by most accounts. After a string of losses, he bowed out in 2019.
Of all the fighters here, Darren Till is the most current. As of writing, the Liverpool-born athlete isn’t even 30 and is still fighting in the UFC. After being stabbed at a young age, Till moved to Brazil and trained with Astra Fight Team. He entered the UFC in 2015 as a welterweight.
He fought with the likes of Donald Cerrone and then, in 2018, seized the welterweight title from Stephen Thompson, only to lose it later that year to Tyrone Woodley in his first-ever MMA career loss. After getting KO’d by Jorge Masvidal, Till moved to middleweight and won a split decision over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244. He placed at #7 in the UFC’s 2021 middleweight rankings.
Those are some of the most notable British fighters in the UFC so far. There are many others, of course, but none that have quite reached the heights of the five fighters listed here. Take some honorable mentions for the road with the likes of Dan Hardy, Jimi Manuwa, and female Brits Joanne Calderwood and Molly McCann.
As the UFC continues to grow, there’s no doubt that we’ll see more British fighters entering the UFC. When that happens, the best of them will also make a splash, and so this list may look different in the future.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
