Ranking 10 Greatest Ever MMA Fighters From The UK & Ireland
2. Michael Bisping (30-9)
Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping is, without question, the greatest British fighter of all-time. The middleweight star who grew up in Clitheroe, Lancashire made history on numerous occasions over the course of his illustrious career. Back in 2007, at UFC 78, Bisping became the first British fighter to headline a UFC event, when he took on Rashad Evans.
At one point in his career, it appeared ‘The Count’ looked destined to go down as one of the best fighters to never win UFC gold. However, that all changed at UFC 199, back in 2016. The main event at UFC 199 was originally scheduled to be Chris Weidman versus Luke Rockhold for the middleweight title. However, Weidman was forced to pull out and was ultimately replaced by Bisping.
Despite being a heavy underdog (Rockhold had previously beaten Bisping), the Lancashire product ended up pulling off the upset and capturing the UFC Middleweight Championship.
In doing so, he became the first Brit to capture a UFC title and remains the only man from the region to have done so.
Outside of capturing the gold, Bisping established himself one of MMA’s premier trash-talkers, which helped make him one of the most recognized names in the sport. He also has signature wins over legends like Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson.
To add to his stellar resume, the retired Englishman was recently inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame this past July.