5 UFC fighters from the UK who failed to live up to their hype
This past weekend saw a blockbuster UFC show in London, England, and a number of UK-based fighters picked up big wins, including Paddy Pimblett, Tom Aspinall and Arnold Allen – garnering a lot of hype for them in the process.
Over the years we’ve seen a large number of fighters from the UK garner hype for their performances in the UFC, but not all of them were able to reach their initial potential.
While fighters like Michael Bisping, Dan Hardy and Darren Till all reached the top of their divisions or at least came close, plenty of others fell at far earlier hurdles, despite a lot of hype behind them.
With that in mind, here are five UFC fighters from the UK who failed to live up to the hype.
#5. John Hathaway – former UFC welterweight contender
When the UFC headed to Dublin for the first time in early 2009, the promotion made quite the big deal of Irish prospect Tom Egan, who had seemingly been signed specifically for the event.
With an unbeaten 4-0 record to his name, ‘The Tank’ was matched with largely unknown English fighter John Hathaway, and it was obvious that the local fans expected him to win. Unfortunately, the Irishman had bitten off more than he could chew – and found himself demolished by ‘The Hitman’ in the first round.
Just five months later, Hathaway was back, extending his unbeaten record to 12-0 with a win over Rick Story. After that fight, it was hard not to get excited over the English fighter’s prospects.
Not only was Hathaway incredibly aggressive, but unusually for a fighter from the UK, he appeared to possess some formidable wrestling skills, as he completely dominated Story – a notable wrestler in his own right – in that area.
‘The Hitman’ followed his win over Story by beating Paul Taylor, and then stunned everyone by dominating perennial contender Diego Sanchez in his first main card bout in May 2010. By that point, the hype around Hathaway was off the charts, with many fans expecting him to progress into contention for the welterweight title.
However, in his first co-headline bout, he was dominated by veteran Mike Pyle in a sizeable upset. And while he did bounce back from that loss with three straight wins, a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease in 2011 derailed him entirely.
‘The Hitman’ was forced out of the octagon for the better part of two years, and when he returned and fell to Dong Hyun Kim via knockout in his comeback fight, he decided that enough was enough, and retired from MMA shortly afterwards.
Given that he was only 26 when he took his last fight, it’s probably safe to say that his health issues were almost entirely to blame for his downfall – and while he didn’t reach his potential, it wasn’t through any fault of his own.