U.S. Doesn't Dominate UFC Anymore. Here are UK Champs
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Only 17 nations have seen one of their residents reach the summit of a UFC division. In the 1990s and the early days of the UFC, Americans and Brazilians dominated, but in the past few years we have seen title winners from China, Poland, Cameroon, Czech Republic, Kyrgyzstan, and England.
So, how many fighters from the United Kingdom have won a UFC title?
Michael Bisping
Ian Freeman was the first man to enter the UFC from the UK, but Michael Bisping was the first fighter to win a title from that part of the world.
The Brit would first fight in the UFC in 2006 after winning The Ultimate Fighter. Bisping would then have a turbulent first couple of years in the UFC, winning his first three fights but losing to Rashad Evans before another three-fight win streak. He lost five more times between 2010 and 2014, including a loss to eventual middleweight champion Luke Rockhold.
After his loss to Rockhold, Bisping would piece together a three-fight win streak that included a famous victory in London against Anderson Silva. Less than four months later, Bisping got his moment to fight for the title out of nowhere at UFC 199 against Rockhold.
The Brit replaced Chris Weidman in the main event after the latter got injured a few weeks before the fight. It gave Bisping little time to prepare for his first-ever title shot in the UFC. At that point, he had been a professional fighter for 12 years.
With just a few weeks to prepare, the American champion was -600 to win the fight. Bisping knocked Rockhold out and became the first champion from the UK, registering one of the biggest UFC title upsets in history.
He would defend his title only once, defeating Dan Henderson in London in the second fight between the two after Henderson won the first by knockout. Bisping then lost his title to Georges St-Pierre and had one more fight against Kelvin Gastelum before retiring.
Leon Edwards
Six years on from Bisping making history for British MMA, Leon Edwards produced arguably the most shocking moment in UFC history by knocking out Kamuru Usman.
Edwards’ career took a huge turn during the pandemic, and after being labeled a future contender at welterweight, he couldn’t get a fight signed for two years. He then fought Belal Muhammad in a bout that was ruled a no contest in round two after an accidental eye poke rendered Muhammad unable to continue. At the time, there was not an unluckier fighter in the UFC.
Four months would pass before we saw Edwards back in action. After putting on a clinic against Nate Diaz, he finally got his shot at UFC gold against Usman with a nine-fight win streak in the bag. Usman happened to be the last man to beat Edwards before his winning run.
On Aug. 20, 2022, Usman was winning the fight comfortably with just 56 seconds left of the 25-minute bout. Out of nowhere, Edwards delivered arguably the most famous head kick knockout in UFC history, winning the fight and stunning the MMA world.
The Brit fought Usman for a third time in London in March 2023, winning via majority decision. As of April 2023, Edwards remained the welterweight champion, sittting alongside Bisping as the only Brits to ever win a UFC title.
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How Many British Fighters Are in the UFC?
As of 2023, there are 23 fighters in the UFC from Great Britain.
This year has seen the departure of superstar Brit Darren Till, which leaves the likes of Edwards, Tom Aspinall, Jack Shore and Paul Craig representing the UK in the UFC.
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