British fighters have always been an asset to the UFC and have proven their mettle inside the octagon multiple times. But not many Brits have been able to achieve the fame of calling themselves a UFC champion. A look at the history of the promotion to date will reveal that there are only two British natives who have grabbed UFC gold to date. Michael Bisping and Leon Edwards are the two fighters to grab the promotion’s prestigious titles in their respective divisions.
Michael Bisping was the first British UFC star to win gold when he defeated Luke Rockhold, at UFC 199 and captured the UFC middleweight title. Bisping was the first British fighter to headline a UFC PPV, also became the maiden UK-born UFC champion on 5 June 2016.
After Bisping, the British UFC community had to wait for six long years before they witnessed their next UFC champion. But none could have thought that the next British UFC champion was already in the promotion while Bisping won his championship.
The noted UK-based UFC welterweight, Leon Edwards ramped up an awesome 8-fight win to bag a UFC welterweight title shot against Kamaru Usman. ‘Rocky’ knocked ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ with a vicious head-kick in the final round of the bout. Edwards’s UFC 278 victory also brought an end to the six-year-long wait of British UFC fans. ‘Rocky’ became the second Brit to hold a UFC championship on 20 August 2022 with his welterweight title victory over Kamaru Usman.
On 11 November 2023, the noted UK-based UFC heavyweight, Tom Aspinall, defeated his Russian rival, Sergei Pavlovich, via a first-round KO. Aspinall won the UFC interim heavyweight championship with his UFC 295 victory. But even after this, a lot of fans may not accept him as a UFC champion.
Should Tom Aspinall also be called a British UFC champion apart from Michael Bisping and Leon Edwards?
Well, a close look at the UFC divisional championships will reveal that there’s an invisible “undisputed” written before them. Hence, the UFC may try to give away other championships, like the interim divisional championships and the ‘BMF’ championship. But, those champions have hardly gained the respect that usual divisional UFC champs get.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong in calling Tom Aspinall the third British UFC champion. But it’s the interim heavyweight title that he won. While the undisputed title was still held by Jon ‘Bones’ Jones. However, Aspinall has every chance of changing it in the future. He is only 30 years old at the moment.
But will the UFC world witness the UK-based UFC champ, Edwards, holding onto his title even after 16 December? His UFC 296 main event fight against Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington is not expected to be an easy one.
