UFC 127 Fight Card: Michael Bisping and the Top 10 British Fighters in MMA
The fight card for UFC 127 will take place tonight from the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia but will actually feature four fights that include fighters from Michael Bisping’s homeland of Great Britain.
Bisping himself will fight in the semi-main event against Jorge Rivera in a fight that has had some of the most trash-talk between fighters that we have seen in recent memory. The middleweight bout will actually be Bisping’s second in Australia as he also fought in the UFC’s previous event at the Acer Arena, UFC 110, when he lost a unanimous decision to Wanderlei Silva.
Bisping won’t be the lone Brit on the UFC 127 card, though, as he will be joined by Curt Warburton, Tom Blackledge, and Ross Pearson.
The United Kingdom is trying to make a bigger mark in the MMA world and tonight will be a big step for the country’s fight scene as a whole.
As we head into the very important card, let’s take a look at the current top-10 pound-for-pound fighters that call England their home.
10. Andre Winner (11-5-1)
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A former contestant on The Ultimate Fighter, Andre Winner actually got into MMA when he met Paul Daley and Dan Hardy. He originally tried out for The Ultimate Fighter season eight but didn’t make the cut. He did, however, make it on the show for season nine.
It was on The Ultimate Fighter that Winner met and joined coach Michael Bisping on the U.K. team.
Winner lost to fellow Team U.K. member Ross Pearson in the finale by unanimous decision, losing the six-figure UFC contract in the process. Even with the loss, like many other former TUF contestants, Pearson has fought in the UFC ever since.
He won his next two fights against Rolando Delgado and Rafaello Oliveira before losing back-to-back fights against Nik Lentz and Dennis Siver in late 2010.
9. Terry Etim (14-3)
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Terry Etim brought a perfect 9-0 record to the UFC when he faced Matt Grice at UFC 70 in Manchester. He made it 10-0 when he submitted Grice late in the first round with a guillotine, a submission that won him his first “Submission of the Night” award.
Since that fight, Etim has gone 4-3 in the UFC, losing his most recent fight to Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 112—the first submission loss of his career.
Terry’s most impressive win so far may have been when he survived a knockdown and broken nose at the hands of Justin Buckholz at UFC 99. It was in the first round that Buckholz caught Etim but he was able to maintain composure and make it through the round before submitting Buckholz in the second round with a D’Arce choke, earning the second of his three career Submission of the Night awards.
8. Ronnie Mann (18-2-1)
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Featherweight fighter Ronnie Mann is the only fighter on this list who has never competed in the WEC or UFC. He was scheduled to fight Brad Pickett in the WEC in 2008 but the fight was cancelled due to an injury sustained by Pickett.
Even though he hasn’t fought in the world’s biggest MMA company, Mann has made his name in the Sengoku and Cage Rage promotions, while also winning the Cage Gladiators Featherweight World Championship. He recently made his U.S. debut for Shark Fights in Sept. 2010, winning the promotion’s featherweight title by defeating Doug Evans by split decision.
Mann has expressed interest in fighting UFC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo but signed with Bellator on Feb. 17.
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7. Rob Broughton (15-5-1)
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Rob Broughton made his MMA debut in 2004, losing his first fight by submission. He then fought to a draw in his second fight before finally getting his first win in his third professional fight.
The slow start to his career doesn’t tell the story of how much better Broughton is now, though, as he has since defeated James Thompson twice and Eric “Butterbean” Esch once.
Broughton had a setback in 2007 when he suffered an injury during training that kept him out of MMA for over a year. He returned as soon as he could, though, and showed his potential when he ended the undefeated record of Neil Grove.
As the only heavyweight on this list, Rob Broughton is the best heavyweight fighter in English MMA history.
6. Ross Pearson (11-4)
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Ross Pearson won UFC Ultimate Fighter 9 Lightweight division when he defeated fellow Team U.K. fighter Andre Winner in the finale.
Pearson then went on to defeat Aaron Riley and the highly-touted Dennis Siver before losing his first UFC fight to Cole Miller back in Sept. 2010. The win over Siver was perhaps the finest of Pearson’s career as he displayed great stand-up skills in a highly entertaining bout that won Fight of the Night.
If he is able to defeat Spencer Fisher tonight, Pearson would really go a long way in proving that he deserves to be in the conversation for a future UFC Lightweight title fight.
5. John Hathaway (14-1)
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John Hathaway made his MMA debut in June 2006, defeating his opponent by rear naked choke in the first round.
That was just the beginning of what has turned out to be an excellent career for the young Hathaway. He made his UFC debut at UFC 93, defeating fellow undefeated fighter Thomas Egan by TKO late in round one. He then won back-to-back decisions over Rick Story and fellow Brit, Paul Taylor.
But the biggest win of his career happened at UFC 114 when he completely dominate TUF Season 1 Middleweight winner, Diego Sanchez.
Unfortunately, Hathaway wasn’t able to continue the momentum into his fight against Mike Pyle at UFC 120. Hathaway suffered the first loss of his career, a unanimous decision in a fight he was expected to win.
Still, Hathaway has a ton of potential and could find himself in title contention with just a couple wins.
4. Paul Daley (26-9-2)
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Veteran English mixed martial artist Paul Daley has already fought in 38 professional fights at just 28 years old.
Daley made his UFC debut at UFC 103 when he knocked out Danish fighter Martin Kampmann in the first round. He then went on to knock out Dustin Hazelettin his second fight—a bout which was scheduled to take place at 170 pounds but Daley was unable to make the weight. He was two pounds overweight and was fined 10 percent of his fight purse.
He did win the fight, but it brought up questions on how seriously Daley was taking his career.
We saw a complete collapse in his next fight, a welterweight No. 1 contenders fight against Josh Koscheck.
After the end of the third round of the fight—a bout which Koscheck dominated—Daley took a cheap-shot on Koscheck as he walked to his corner. The incident was concluded when Dana White announced that Daley would, “Never fight in the UFC again.”
Daley has since won four straight fights including a big win over Scott Smith in Strikeforce but it’s hard to put him much higher than fourth on this list when he isn’t fighting the top fighters in the UFC anymore.
3. Brad Pickett (20-5)
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Bantamweight fighter Brad Pickett is perhaps the fighter with the highest ceiling on this list.
With wins over Ivan Menjivar and Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, Pickett is a top-10 fighter who is 10-1 in his last 11 fights.
Pickett hasn’t yet fought in the UFC since it absorbed the WEC but he is expected to fight former WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres at UFC 130. The fight will be by far the biggest of Pickett’s career and a win could immediately propel him into the title picture.
2. Dan Hardy (23-8)
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Since making his debut in a loss back in June 2004, Dan Hardy has become one of the world’s top welterweights.
Early in his career, Hardy fought mostly in Cage Force and Cage Warriors; but made his debut in the UFC at UFC 89. Hardy won the fight against Akihiro Gono in a split decision but gained the respect of many fans when he was able to recover from being rocked on several occasions and still win the fight.
Hardy went on to crush Rory Markham in his next fight before winning decisions over Marcus Davis and Mike Swick in 2009.
The biggest fight of his career came at UFC 111 when he got a shot at UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre. Hardy was a huge underdog coming into the fight and the odds were right as St. Pierre completely dominated the fight, nearly submitting Hardy on numerous occasions but earning a unanimous decision in the end.
Hardy didn’t win the fight but did again earn much respect from fans as he refused to tap out from terrible-looking submissions.
In his most recent fight, Hardy suffered the most devastating loss to his career at the hands of Carlos Condit, who knocked him out late in the first round. It marked the first time Hardy had ever been knocked out in an MMA fight.
Hardy’s next fight will be a big one in deciding whether he will remain a top contender in the UFC as he faces Anthony “Rumble” Johnson at UFC Fight Night in March.
1. Michael Bisping (20-3)
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By far the most famous British MMA fighter today is Michael “The Count” Bisping who will be facing Jorge Rivera in the semi-main event at UFC 127 this evening.
Bisping’s 20-3 record includes wins over Chris Leben, Dennis Kang, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Matt Hamill. The only losses he has suffered have come at the hands of consensus top fighters Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, and Rashad Evans.
Bisping needs tonight’s fight to continue his crawl back up to the top of the world rankings as he has slipped significantly since the crushing knockout loss to Henderson and losing the decision to Silva.
He has been known to talk a lot but Michael Bisping may have met his match in Jorge Rivera who has spent weeks insulting him. A win would likely mean a fight against another top contender for Bisping and a chance to once again prove himself as one of the premier fighters in the world while representing the emerging British MMA scene in the process.
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