A Look Back At The UFC’s Top UK and Irish Cards

On July 23rd, the UFC will host their 29th event in the UK/Ireland with another fight night in the UK capital. Since 2002, when the UFC first landed in the Big Smoke, they’ve put on some blockbuster cards, some of which that’ll go down as some of the best Fight Nights in the promotions history. But which ones have been the best?

Throughout the 28 cards, some enthralling, some not so, UK MMA pioneers have had the chance to fly their flag on home soil, some of which on multiple occasions. Not only have UK and Ireland fight fans been blessed with some amazing cards, but they’ve also been the beneficiaries of seeing some elite names touchdown in their home cities. Michael Bisping currently holds the record for the most UFC appearances in the UK/Ireland with 9, and fan favourite Gunnar Nelson stands only 1 appearance behind. Allstars product, Alexander Gustafsson is set to make his third appearance on UK soil this coming January, with Makwan Amirkhani scheduled to make his fifth.

4. UFC 70 – Nations Collide – Gonzaga vs Cro Cop – Manchester

Nations Collide was the second event the UFC hosted in the UK and it took place at the Manchester Evening News Arena in 2007. The main event of this card alone was enough to make it on the list, but despite that, the fights scattered throughout were also remarkable. Gonzaga vs Cro Cop stood as a number 1 contender fight against the then Heavyweight king, Randy Couture. Not only did the Brazilian win, he did it in extraordinary fashion, head kicking Cro Cop with one of his own signature left high kicks putting him to sleep. The co-main event also saw two fierce heavyweights go head to head, Arlovski and Werdum, with The Pitbull coming out on top. A 28-year-old Michael Bisping found himself fighting in his home City for the UFC, the first time his career. He put on a Fight of the Night performance for his home crowd, defeating Elvis Sinosic in round 2. As a whole, the names on the card and the performances that succeeded, this event resulted in one of the best the UK have seen throughout the many fortunate years of the UFC.

3. UFC Fight Night 46 – McGregor vs Brandao – Dublin

When talking about UK and Irish cards, one cannot look past Fight Night 46. An Irishman had already started making waves prior to this event after winning his first 2 fights with the UFC. Conor McGregor’s accumulation of fans so soon in his UFC career made it almost impossible for the UFC to look past making him the headline in his home City of Dublin. Not only that, but he earned the spotlight main event, as in his first 2 fights, he put on spotless performances, inside and outside of the cage. McGregor headlined the event against Ultimate Fighter 14 winner, Diego Brandao, who was coming in off a loss to Dustin Poirier, but he was set to be McGregor’s first proper test. The first round saw several scrambling exchanges, as well as a few submission attempts sprinkled in there from Brandao. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, he found himself back on his feet, striking with the then flawless McGregor. Only minutes later, McGregor caught him with a swift spinning wheel kick, momentarily dropping Brandao to his knees. Some forward pressure and a piston left hand later, Brandao would find himself looking up at bright lights, with the roar of Irish fight fans bellowing in the background. Test passed. McGregor had blown the roof off the O2 in Dublin. The Notorious’ SBG teammate, Gunni Nelson was also victorious on the night, winning the co-main event via rear-naked choke against Zak Cummings. The culmination of the atmosphere, mixed in with McGregor getting a dominant win in his first UFC main event puts this on the list.

2. UFC Fight Night 84 – Silva vs Bisping – London

How could I miss the defining moment in The Count’s incredible career? Not only was this card stacked from top to bottom, it also typified Bisping’s career as a whole. Adversity and nearly are two words you automatically think of when pondering the career of the now Hall of Famer. At every last hurdle Bisping faced prior to Silva, he came up just short, losing to the likes of Henderson, Sonnen, Belfort and Rockhold, just when Middleweight Gold was in touching distance. Fight Night 84 was a new chapter to the story that had a happy ending. Even during the main event bout with Silva, Bisping had to come through adversity. At the end of round 3, Bisping was signalling to the ref in charge, Herb Dean, to pause the fight to give him his lost mouthpiece. While Bisping was distracted, he was caught with a picture perfect flying knee, right on the buzzer. Silva mounted the top of the cage in celebration, but Herb Dean didn’t wave the fight complete. Bisping came out in rounds 4 and 5 like a man possessed. This signalled the dawn of Bisping’s charge to gold. He went on to capture the Middleweight title against Luke Rockhold, and then defended his strap at UFC 204 in Manchester, another card that gets a mention on this list.

1. UFC Fight Night 204 – Volkov vs Aspinall – London

That brings us to the most recent UK card to take place, and one of the greatest UFC Fight Night’s of all time. What made this card even more special, is that it was the first card to take place in the UK for over 3 years, due to the Coronavirus pandemic. 2020 saw UFC London cancelled a week prior to the event, in which Leon Edwards was finally set to main event in the UK against Tyron Woodley. Fast forward 3 years, and the UFC were finally able to land back in the capital. They returned with a card that had a bit of everything that a Fight Night needs to be special. 29-year-old, Tom Aspinall got the top spot for the first time in his UFC tenure, a main event spot that some people believed to be premature. The Team Kaobon product passed with flying colours. The co-main event saw one of the friendliest assassins take on a returning Dan Hooker. One of which was also passed with flying colours by Almighty Allen. The o2 was also fortunate enough to experience a Paddy The Baddy walkout and performance for the first time, one of which blew the roof off the place. A dominant debut from Muhammad Mokaev opened up the event and set the tone for the entire night. An event that made the UFC shuffle their schedule and make another pitstop at the o2 later this year.