5 best UFC fighters from the UK
Ever since the debut of Ian Freeman back in the 1990s, fighters from the UK have been a staple in the UFC, and naturally, they have seen varying levels of success.
So, with three UFC champions now hailing from the UK over the years, who stands as the best British fighter in the history of the promotion?
With superstars competing in numerous weight classes, it’s a fascinating question to ask.
With that in mind, here are the five best UFC fighters to come from the UK.
#5. Dan Hardy – former UFC welterweight title challenger
While he came up short in the big fight, Dan Hardy will always be remembered as the first UK-based fighter to ever challenge for a UFC title.
‘The Outlaw’ had already carved out a strong reputation for himself on the regional scene before arriving in the octagon in 2008, and it didn’t take him long to make an impact.
The Nottingham-born fighter won his first three fights in the big leagues, defeating veterans Akihiro Gono, Rory Markham, and Marcus Davis. Those wins – as well as an infectious personality and good trash-talking skills – turned him into a star.
From there, Hardy found himself in a top contender’s bout with Mike Swick, and edged out ‘Quick’ in an impressive showing to earn a shot at welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre.
‘The Outlaw’ lasted the distance with ‘GSP’ although he was outclassed, and while he lost his next three fights too, there was no shame in defeats to Carlos Condit, Anthony Johnson, and Chris Lytle.
Hardy bounced back from those losses with two more wins in the octagon, but the discovery of a rare heart condition then forced him into premature retirement. ‘The Outlaw’ went on to become a highly regarded color commentator with the UFC before departing in 2021.
Hardy’s octagon record might not stand out as much as some, but at the time, his wins were very impressive, and he clearly belongs on any list of great fighters from the UK.
#4. Arnold Allen – UFC featherweight contender
While his lengthy win streak finally ended at the hands of Max Holloway earlier this year, there’s no denying that featherweight contender Arnold Allen is one of the best fighters to ever emerge from the UK.
‘Almighty’ made his UFC debut back in 2015, submitting Alan Omer with a guillotine choke, and from there, he put together an astonishing ten-fight win streak to climb into title contention at 145lbs.
The native of Ipswich holds wins over top fighters like Dan Hooker, Sodiq Yusuff, and Calvin Kattar, with his TKO victory over Hooker being widely seen as his signature finish.
Now training with Canada’s famed Tri-Star Gym, Allen is a rare example of a fighter with no glaring weaknesses. He has a brilliant, technical striking game built around a ramrod jab, is adept at snatching submissions on the ground, and is difficult to take down, too.
At the age of just 29, he may not have reached his prime yet, meaning that in the future, there’s every chance he could climb this list further. After all, he is currently ranked at No.4 in his division.
Either way, though, his skills and lengthy win streak mark him out as one of the best fighters to ever emerge from the UK.
#3. Tom Aspinall – UFC interim heavyweight champion
The latest fighter from the UK to claim gold in the UFC is Tom Aspinall, who defeated Sergei Pavlovich to win the interim heavyweight title this weekend at UFC 295.
Fascinatingly, Aspinall was not actually supposed to be fighting at the event. He and Pavlovich only accepted their bout on late notice when the Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic fight was canceled, and the UK native admitted that he wasn’t in his best shape.
However, when it came to fight time, that didn’t matter. Shrugging off a clean shot from the vaunted power-punching Russian, Aspinall used his superior speed to land a crushing combination and won the title in just over a minute.
Holding wins over the likes of Andrei Arlovski, Marcin Tybura, and Alexander Volkov prior to his title victory, it’s clear that Aspinall is likely to go down as one of the most talented heavyweights of his generation.
Combining the speed and skill of a lighter fighter with the crushing power of a 265lber, the Liverpool native may not have even reached his peak yet, which is a scary thing indeed.
As one of just three UK-based fighters to hold a UFC title, he clearly belongs on this list, but there’s a definite chance that when all is said and done, he may yet belong at the very top of it.
#2. Leon Edwards – UFC welterweight champion
While he was actually born in Jamaica, Leon Edwards moved to the UK at the age of nine and has always represented his hometown of Birmingham, England while competing in the octagon.
Therefore, as only the second UK-based fighter to claim UFC gold, it’d be impossible to leave ‘Rocky’ off this list. In fact, there would perhaps be an argument for ranking him at the very top overall.
In his early days with the promotion, Edwards definitely didn’t look like a future champion. He lost his first octagon bout against Claudio Silva, and his 2015 defeat to Kamaru Usman left him with a record of 2-2.
However, from there, ‘Rocky’ went on a tear. He reeled off eight straight wins, each opponent getting progressively trickier, and climbed into contention with a victory over Rafael Dos Anjos.
Even so, when a win over Nate Diaz netted him a shot at Usman – by then the dominant welterweight champion – very few fans actually gave him a chance of winning.
Remarkably, though, Edwards pulled off the unthinkable, producing one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history to dispatch ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ with a fifth-round head kick, winning him a fight he’d clearly been losing.
Since then, ‘Rocky’ has gone on to defeat Usman in a trilogy bout, and went on to defend his title against Colby Covington in December 2023.
#1. Michael Bisping – former UFC middleweight champion
While his legacy may eventually be surpassed by someone like Leon Edwards or Tom Aspinall, for now at least, Michael Bisping remains the best UFC fighter from the UK.
Not only was ‘The Count’ the first UK-based fighter to ever claim gold inside the octagon, but he was also the first British fighter to really become a genuine superstar.
More to the point, his longevity was phenomenal, with his career with the promotion spanning over a decade and taking in some truly brilliant victories.
After winning the third season of The Ultimate Fighter in 2006, Bisping was immediately positioned as a star and helped the promotion to break back into the UK with a string of events.
‘The Count’ really hit his stride in 2008 when he dropped from 205lbs to 185lbs. He picked up huge wins over the likes of Chris Leben, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Jason Miller, and Cung Le, but losses to fighters like Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen seemed to keep him away from a title challenge.
However, things changed in 2016. After outpointing legendary former middleweight champ Anderson Silva in an epic, Bisping shocked the world by knocking out Luke Rockhold to finally become the first UK-born champion in UFC history.
Sure, his reign wasn’t the best, encompassing a single win over Dan Henderson and a loss to Georges St-Pierre, but it didn’t matter. ‘The Count’ had achieved something nobody really expected him to do, cementing his spot in octagon history.
These days, of course, Bisping is renowned as an analyst and podcast host, but he remains one of the more visible UFC stars out there. More intriguingly, in a total of 19 fights there, he never lost in his native UK – making him the best fighter to ever hail from there.