By Peter Bowron, 3/27/2016 at 12:31 p.m. Tweet to @pistolpete77
The rise in popularity of the UFC in the UK has hit its share of bumps in the road like the US. Over the years, many fight fans refused to see MMA as a legitimate sport. Criticized as barbaric, and misunderstood at times (especially the ground game), MMA has had a weight chained to its ankle while boxing has been the dominant and most lucrative combat sport in both the US and the UK. Yet, like a downed fighter who gets up swinging, the UFC has fought hard over the last ten years to expand its fan base into the UK, Europe and around the world.
The importance of the UK to the UFC’s quest for worldwide domination is illustrated by the extra effort the UFC has put into highlighting British fighters on the reality show, The Ultimate Fighter and putting on many major events in the UK. In 2009, they made TUF: The United States vs. The United Kingdom. The Brits had a jolly good showing; placing 3 out of 4 fighters in the finale to compete for the title: The Ultimate Fighter. The future of MMA in the UK was looking bright.
Traditionally, the British have trained in a variety of styles. Often non-American fighters face the obstacle of having less wrestling experience and are more subject to being taken down and controlled but UK fighters often don’t have this problem. Free style wrestling is prominent in the kingdom actually having originated there.
Top British front runners like John Hathaway and Norman Parke are decorated free style wrestlers, both achieving podium finishes in the British and Irish free style wrestling championships. Although recognized more for their muay thai and boxing, Ross Pearson and Dan Hardy got their starts at ages 6 and 7 in Taekwondo and were training in Judo by high school. Michael Bisping trained in jiu-jitsu starting at age eight before he began to add in striking in high school.
Despite the variety of styles that Brits have expertise in, there are dark clouds on the horizon when looking at the prevalence of MMA and the UFC in the UK. For the UFC to take hold in the U.K. as strongly as it has in the U.S., it has been essential for several top British fighters to emerge as world championship contenders for fans to get behind. Despite the similarities that the UK has with the US, the US has nearly five times as many people from which to draw good fighters from. The UK is struggling to put contenders up.
Michael Bisping, having long been the face of British MMA could not beat standard top American front runners like Luke Rockhold and Tom Kennedy. The lack of talent is highlighted by a half desperate decision to pit Michael Bisping against Anderson Silva. They are both over the hill and questionably, this was an “old-timers” fight. The UFC is an organization designed to let the best fighters in the world compete for world titles but this was just a publicity fight. One of the real motivations for the UFC was to find a high profile fight for Michael Bisping in which he wouldn’t get destroyed, and retain the existing British fan base.
Of the top notable British fighters holding a candle of hope for British glory in the UFC are Norman Parke, winner of the TUF series: the Smashes. The Smashes was a TUF show featuring the UK vs. Australia which did not air in the US. Norman Parke is a promising north Irish wrestler and striker but has lost 3 of his last four UFC fights and may very well be finished in the UFC.
John Hathaway, also considered one of Britain’s best ever at one time and still young at only 28, is in deep freeze mode now. He made a splash in the UFC at UFC 93 in which he defeated one of Ireland’s best at the time, Tom Egan in front of a sold out O2 arena in Belfast. John Hathaway relentlessly took down and controlled the outclassed Tom Egan. Yet Tom Egan was not a world contender and certainly not a top American fighter. He is arguably, strictly a standup fighter, never having submitted anyone in a fight. Hathaway went on to beat Diego Sanchez but since then has lost to Dong Hyun Kim and his last three wins are by decision.
The UK doesn’t have much promise when it’s riding on the shoulders of Hathaway or Parke. Imagine Hathaway fighting top American welterweights like Johnny Hendricks or Jake Ellenberger or Stephen Thompson! It wouldn’t be pretty for Hathaway. The same goes for Norman Parke fighting Anthony Pettis or even the 9th and 10th ranked Americans, Donald Cerrone or Dustin Poirier.
One fighter though might have the power to turn it all around and fire up the UK fans. That man is Ross Pearson. The Ultimate Fighter show has always been a good experiment to see who may emerge as a top UFC contender. Flashback back to 2009 to the Ultimate Fighter finale. Ross Pearson was one of the three Brits fighting for the title of the Ultimate Fighter!
He trained at the Wolf’s Lair with Michael Bisping when he was breaking into the UFC. He defeated a very strong standup fighter, and a past winner of the TUF show in Chad Laprise last Saturday, March 19th. Pearson used his power and footwork to out strike a striker. Ross may be a sleeper but he’s obtained wins over Sam Stout and Gray Maynard in the last two years. The clash of Pearson with a top American or Brazilian fighter is imminent and Pearson has a lot more riding on his shoulders than just his own career.