Do UFC’s Home Grown Fighters Have a Chance to Break Out in the UK in 2024?

Image credit: dylan nolte via Unsplash

Waking up on Sunday 17th December, England had confirmation it was ending the year with not one, but two UFC champions of the World. 

Leon Edwards’ second successful defence of his UFC Welterweight title in 12 months meant he would start 2024 alongside the first-ever English UFC Heavyweight Champion (albeit interim), Manchester’s Tom Aspinall.

Fast forward 48hrs and the nation celebrated the UK’s most successful athletes from a year which brought World Cup final appearances for both the Lionesses and the Red Roses, a Ryder Cup win, and a thrilling Ashes series.

But as far as mainstream media coverage was concerned, and the shortlist for that matter, Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards was nowhere to be seen.

For the uninitiated, ‘Rocky’ Edwards’ performance in 2023 should be treated on par with those other British successes and give him at least a fighter’s chance at an award and at the very least, a SPOTY shortlist.

It was only August of 2022 when the fighter out of Renegade gym in Birmingham, England, landed a head-kick that shook the combat sports world, dethroning Kamaru Usman – a man who sat atop the UFC Pound-4-Pound rankings and was undefeated since 2013.

Since then, he’s bested the same man again and defeated the controversial Colby Covington – two of the division’s best – as he builds 12-fight winning streak.

As for Aspinall, a little over a year on from a career-threatening knee injury suffered at the O2 in London, he now sits atop the Heavyweight division, at least until Jon Jones and Stipe sort out their differences, his title won on just 14-days’ notice, in one of the world’s most famous arenas – Madison Square Garden.

So why does this success still go under the radar in England and the UK?

By now, the impact of Conor McGregor’s surge to two-weight glory in the UFC in 2016 has well and truly died down, somewhat in-line with his overall activity in the Octagon (though he is due to return at the end of June).

But there’s more to the UFC than Conor McGregor, and even in England, there’s more to the UFC than Edwards and Aspinall.

On today’s roster of ranked fighters, Arnold Allen from Ipswich, Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann from Liverpool, Nathanial Wood from Epsom are all emerging names – and not to forget Russian born Englishman Muhammad Mokaev who, at just 23, has aspirations of challenging Jon Jones’ record as the youngest UFC champion of all time.

The UFC is a really diverse sport, with stars and champions from many markets including Brazil, Mexico, China, Australia and Russia alongside those from the UK and US and the sport’s growing influence can be seen as challengers emerge from countries such as Georgia and Armenia.

Despite this, the premium combat sports offering seems to narrow its output when it comes to events in the UK.

You’d have to cast your mind back to 2018 to find the last event the UFC held outside of the O2 Arena in London when the Echo Arena in Liverpool staged home-town Darren Till’s controversial win over Stephen Thompson.

Since then, fights for UK fans of the UFC have been exclusively held in the capital at the iconic O2 Arena.

This was understandable given its size but in 2023, the UFC didn’t sell-out the arena.

Fans were far from happy with the standard of the card (despite Tom Aspinall headlining) or with ticket prices which, on average, increased from £88 in March 2022, to £225.50 at UFC286 just a year later.

The UK ranks as the third largest audience for premium MMA, accounting for 6.84% of the global fanbase. EY’s Sport Engagement report for 2023 showed that MMA’s engagement base in the UK indexed at 1.7mn – almost half that of boxing – and ranked behind Badminton.

Participation in MMA will always be challenging but the apparent lack of opportunity for fans to attend the sports’ events is surely inhibiting its growth in the UK market.

What can be done?

The UFC are making all the right noises.

Conor McGregor is due to return to the UK in June, fellow Irishman Ian Garry is on the rise, and Welsh talent Jack Shore is looking to break out in 2024.

There are murmurs that a strong card might be coming to Manchester which could be a showcase for Aspinall, whilst rumblings from Edwards’ team suggest talks are ongoing to take a Welterweight title fight to Villa Park in his hometown of Birmingham.

But despite this, it could be argued that two of the UFC’s closest rivals do a better job of reaching the European, and UK market than the industry leader.

Bellator packed its annual Dublin cards with some of its biggest names, which is in striking contrast to the UFC’s botched O2 card in March 2023. 

Meanwhile, PFL have fighters like Cedric Doumbe with the star power to sell out arenas in Paris in 2024. Doumbe’s last two fights have taken place in the French capital and his local reputation and popularity has grown exponentially as a consequence, so much so that none other than Kylian Mbappe and his PSG team-mates were in the crowd for his last fight.

As the UFC prepares for it’s second PPV event of 2024, it’s another European breakout star who sits atop of the card, with Georgian-born Ilia Topuria taking on Aussie, Alex Volkanovski – Topuria being another who has attracted crossover fandom from footballer Sergio Ramos in 2023.

It is these locally focussed events, built around local talents, that can build UFC’s popularity amongst UK fans. 

But ultimately the question is, would an Aspinall or Edwards sell-out a stadium themselves?

The potential for growth definitely exists in the UK and the EY report shows encouraging signs of expansion in the gen-Z audience for MMA.

But a look at a report closer to home, from our very own Passions Pulse report, released in January of 2024, indicates that over 60% of people use their passions as a way to engage with others in-real-life and being an MMA fan is all about connecting with others, especially in the context of a sport that is regularly aired between the hours of midnight to 5AM on a Sunday morning and behind the TNT Sports paywall.

For the viewing fan, more opportunity for live engagement is the next step for more success – and this could be a way in for brands – to a relatively untouched space in the UK. Sure, there are limitations with broadcast branding opportunities, or fighter commercial deals, but the opportunity to bring fans closer to these local stars.

The UFC already has many of the ingredients it needs to take it to the next round in the UK.

Diverse rising prospects can attract new, broader audiences; a clutch of homegrown champions with a great pipeline of talent coming through; and the potential for significant audience growth - but without increased live exposure for the sport at the highest level, it’s likely that come December 2024 the SPOTY shortlist will be without a British UFC champion once again.