British UFC Fighters: A look at Leon Edwards, Tom Aspinall, Paddy Pimblett and more

British MMA is perhaps in the best place it’s ever been, boasting the interim heavyweight champion who's waiting to fight Jon Jones for the undisputed crown.

Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy paved the way for British MMA in the late 2000s, with both becoming increasingly prominent in the UFC.

Bisping worked his way up to a middleweight title eliminator, losing to Dan Henderson, while Dan Hardy on the back of four straight wins earned the dubious prize of spending 25 minutes in the cage with Georges St-Pierre.

It looked like England’s wait for a UFC champion would go on for the foreseeable future, but stepping up to fight Luke Rockhold on short notice, Bisping became the first champion from these shores in 2016.

We’re looking at the profiles and records of some of the top British fighters on the MMA scene.

Tom Aspinall

Record: 15-3
Next fight: TBC

Where else to start than with the interim UFC heavyweight champion?

What was one of the UFC's most agonising hard-luck stories has turned into one of its biggest fairytale stories.

Tom Aspinall, a win away from being in the title picture, suffered a devastating knee injury that threatened his MMA career seconds into his bout with Curtis Blaydes. 

Previously on a tear through the heavyweight division, Aspinall beat Andrei Arlovski, Sergey Spivak and Alexander Volkov, earning Performance of the Night honours each time, spending an average of four minutes in the Octagon.

After beating Marcin Tybura on his comeback fight inside 73 seconds in July, Aspinall, faced Sergei Pavlovich for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 295, winning via first-round knockout.

Aspinall was then asked to defend his interim crown against Curtis Blaydes, but having come through that bout, Jon Jones should be next on the horizon later in 2025.

Leon Edwards

Record: 22-5 (1 NC)
Next fight: TBC

It's hard to know what's next for Leon Edwards after his defeat to Sean Brady. It's not uncommon to see a dethroned champion struggle in subsequent fights, and Rocky has now lost two on the bounce.

Edwards will hope to fight again in 2025 with a win potentially putting him back on track for a title shot in 2026.

Arnold Allen

Record: 20-3
Next fight: TBC

After a lengthy winning streak to get to 19-1, Arnold Allen lost back-to-back fights to Max Holloway and Movsar Evloev, throwing into questions his credentials regarding his ability to contend at the top of the bantamweight division.

Allen did get back on track with a unanimous decision win over Giga Chikadze, and will be eyeing a fight with a top-10 fighter later in the year.

Paddy Pimblett

Record: 22-3
Next fight: Michael Chandler

While sceptics were understandably wary of overhyping Paddy Pimblett following his arrival in the UFC after his KO victory against Luigi Vendramini, Pimblett has gone from strength to strength since.

He now has six straight wins in the UFC, including victories over Tony Ferguson and King Green, with his biggest test against Michael Chandler next up.

Win that, and Pimblett may only be one fight away from a title shot.

Muhammad Mokaev

Record: 14-0 (1 NC)
Next fight: TBC

Muhammad Mokaev has perhaps the most fascinating story of any English fighter. Fighting out of Manchester but born in Dagestan, Mokaev looks like the prototypical Dagestani; getting his opponents to the ground and finding any way to make them submit. 

In his seven UFC fights, he won four by submission with four different methods; neck crank, armbar, guillotine and arm triangle. 

Unfortunately for Mokaev, however, he was released by the UFC after his win over Manel Kape, joining Brave CF, where he beat Joevincent So in December 2024.

Michael 'Venom' Page

Record: 23-3
Next fight: TBC

After 23 professional MMA fights, Michael 'Venom' Page was finally signed by the UFC.

Not given the easiest introduction to life in the Octagon, Page took on relative UFC veteran Kevin Holland at UFC 299. Holland, still only 31 at the time, had 20 UFC fights under his belt going into the contest, but the #13-ranked welterweight was no match for Page, who won by unanimous decision.

Page then lost the all-British fight with Ian Machado Garry at UFC 303, but returned to hand Sharabutdin Magomedov his first MMA loss in February.

Brendan Loughnane

Record: 30-6
Next fight: TBC

Though not a UFC fighter, having missed out on a contract with The Ultimate Fighter in 2012, Brendan Loughnane rose to prominence in the MMA world as part of the PFL promotion in 2022, winning the featherweight tournament with a TKO win over Bubba Jenkins.

He started the 2023 season with a win over former UFC bantamweight contender Marlon Moraes, but lost in June to Jesus Pinedo.

His first fight in the 2024 season saw him beat Pedro Carvalho in the first round, going on to beat Justin Gonzaled and Kai Kamaka III to earn a place in the PFL Featherweight Tournament final, where he was out-pointed by Timur Khizriev.