With UFC London around the corner we look back on the best hunters from over the pond.
Over the years, England has produced many exciting MMA stars, only a few of which have achieved the highlight of the sport: a UFC world championship.
Michael Bisping, Leon Edwards and current interim champion Tom Aspinall are the only British hunters who have so far touched gold with others on their paths such as arranged contenders Arnold Allen and Liverpool Sensation Paddy 'Pimblett, who are not far from a title fight.
A new wave of British talent that takes over UFC London on Saturday has ranked the top 5 best British UFC hunters of all time.
Photo by Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images
5. Paul Daley
#5 On our list is someone who went 1-2 in the UFC, but he is not just about someone it is Paul 'Semtex' Daley.
Vechting from Nottingham, England, Daley (44-18-2) has 33 victories through knockout, more than half of those who enter the opening round. Daley was a support pillar in Strikeforce and Bellator, although he did not stay in the UFC long, started from the selection for hitting Josh Koscheck after their fight was already over.
Daley won his first two UFC fights through knockout in round 1 as he did in 17 other fights. Daley consistently fought against some of the biggest names in the sport, such as Nick Diaz, Rory Macdonald, Tyron Woodley and Michael 'Venom'.
Daley has remarkable victories over BMF champion Jorge Masvidal, Martin Kampmann, Duane Ludwig, Brennan Ward and a few fighting candidates on his file.
4. Michael 'Venom' Page
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty images
Another British star with just a few UFC fights on his overall CV is the Electric Michael 'Venom' page – one of the most unpredictable strikers that MMA has ever seen.
Instead of going to the UFC of the regional scene, MVP made a name for itself in Bellator MMA with a record of 17-2. Page wiped the floor with most of his competition, ranging from prospects to former/future UFC hunters to the ultimate champion (Douglas Lima, Logan Storley).
Known for the breaking of skulls and nose with his devastating strikes, Page has lifted his hand against Paul Daley, Douglas Lima, Kevin Holland and recently became the first hunter to defeated Shara 'Bullet' Magomedov in February.
3. Tom Aspinall
Tom Aspinall is perhaps one victory away from becoming the largest British UFC hunter of all time.
Of course interim title holder Aspinall should unite the heavyweight title with champion Jon Jones to make that happen.
Aspinall has been haunting Jones for a while, after he has won and defended the provisional title in his wake, Jones chooses Stipe Miocic on UFC 309 in November November.
The Aspinall of Atherton is 9-1 in the UFC Octagon, whereby he revenge his only loss in his last fight on UFC 304-one of a first round TKO interruption about Curtis Blaydes. 10 fights in his UFC career, Aspinall has defeated former champion Andrei Arlovski, Alexander Volkov, Sergei Pavlovich and more ranked heavyweights in a few minutes.
2. Leon Edwards
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty images
Former UFC champion Welterweight Leon Edwards had a long, heavily fought away to UFC Gold and finally got his title shot against Kamaru Usman after an unbeaten streak of 10-Vecht. 'Rocky' finally got the most out of it and scored a comeback Headkick Ko from Usman to win the title at UFC 278 in 2022.
Edwards beat a number of contenders on their way to the top and successfully defended his title twice against Usman and Colby Covington.
Edwards' only hik in his last 14 fights was a title loss Belal Muhammad in the main event of UFC 304 last summer.
Leon Edwards has victories about: Kamaru Usman (twice), Colby Covington, Rafael Dos Anjos, Nate Diaz, Donald Cerrone and Gunnar Nelson.
1. Michael Bisping
The performance and contributions of Michael Bisping have him on #1 on our list.
Winner of season 3 of 'The Ultimate Fighter', Michael Bisping took the way that traveled most to the UFC Middleweight title. Bisping won much more than he lost, often he went on a decent win, lost against a formidable opponent and then came back to do it all over again.
The resilience and the hard work of Bisping eventually paid off, got a short-notice opportunity to fight for the title after he had disturbed former champion Anderson Silva in London.
'The Count' became revenge on former enemy Luke Rockhold and shocked the world with a first round knockout on UFC 199. Bisping also rubbed a loss for Dan Henderson in his first defending defense.
Michael Bisping (30-9) went 20-9 in the promotion and went retiring in 2017 for the legendary Georges St-Pierre and Kelvin Gastelum.
Bisping defeated the will of Chris Leben, Jason Miller, Brian Stann, Cung Le and many more middle weights in his heyday.
Comments