5 championship caliber English prospects to watch out for in the UFC

Molly McCann and Paddy Pimblett at the O2 Arena [Image via @espnmma on Twitter]

Throughout the first decade of the UFC's existence, the promotion largely housed talent based out of North America. Today, the world's premier MMA promotion has fighters from all around the world on its roster. England, in particular, has produced some high-level fighters in recent years.

In 2016, Michael Bisping became the first English fighter to be crowned a UFC champion. His stunning KO win over Luke Rockhold in 2016 undoubtedly inspired a whole generation of Brits and the state of MMA in the UK has never been better.

Michael Bisping was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019 [Image via @btsport on Twitter]

The modern era of British MMA is littered with talent. A number of top prospects have joined the UFC roster in recent years and the next generation of English fighters have a bright future ahead of them. On that note, let's take a look at five English championship caliber prospects in the UFC.

#5. Jake Hadley – UFC flyweight

Jake Hadley is an exciting addition to the UFC's flyweight division. Hadley holds a perfect professional MMA record of 8-0, comprising two KO/TKO and four submission victories. The undefeated Brit is a former Cage Warriors and EFC flyweight titleholder. He has developed a reputation for being a remarkably well-rounded fighter with a killer instinct and mentality.

Hadley's introduction to the UFC brass was far from ideal. Leading up to his outing on season 5 of Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS), he failed to make the flyweight limit of 125 pounds, missing by 2 pounds.

Nevertheless, he produced an incredible performance as he choked out Mitch Raposo in the second round of their bout. Moments after securing a submission victory, he approached Dana White and the matchmakers to apologize for missing weight.

BRUTAL 😨

Jake Hadley shows no mercy and gets the tap in Round 2!

🇨🇦 #DWCS live on @UFCFightPass & TSN https://t.co/uL73YjuhTy

Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard, the UFC matchmakers, were unhappy with Hadley’s behavior before his appearance on DWCS. Despite his impressive showing against Raposo, Shelby and Maynard were reportedly against signing the Englishman.

However, Dana White overruled his colleagues and opted to offer the Birmingham native a contract. Before breaking the news to a clearly emotional Hadley, White said:

"He didn’t make weight, which is a really big deal here. If you don’t make weight now, trying to get into the UFC, what’s it going to be like when you get to the UFC? The other thing was, there were a lot of other issues with Jake this week, behind the scenes."

He added:

"I think that Jake Hadley is special. I think this kid is super talented. I asked him who’s your jiu-jitsu coach that you’re only a purple belt, you know? Don’t make an a**hole out of me, Jake! Get over here!”