The UFC returns for their first UK pay-per-view in over six years this weekend as UFC 286 takes centre stage. Not a common site in mixed martial arts’s biggest promotion we thought we’d take a look at all the UK pay-per-views the UFC has held previously.
When looking at the events, the UFC have held a total of 26 on British shores. Making UFC 286 number 27. Despite this number, only five of them have been pay-per-view. Several of the 26 cards were numbered events. However, this was before the frequency of the fight night events.
So with all that being said here are the five UK UFC pay-per-views in the order that they happened.
UFC 38 – July 13th 2002
The first ever UK UFC pay-per-view would be headlined by Matt Hughes vs Carlos Newton for the welterweight championship. Taking place in the Royal Albert Hall in London, England, it gained an impressive attendance of 3,800. Overall the buy rate for the event was 45,000 which was okay for the time.
In the main event, Matt Hughes would retain his title with a fourth-round TKO. This marked the second time Hughes had beaten Newton as he’d done so previously at UFC 34 to win the belt.
Other notable bouts on the card included Ian Freeman who defeated a pre-heavyweight champion Frank Mir via first-round TKO. As well as a pre-middleweight champion Evan Tanner taking out Chris Haseman via unanimous decision at light heavyweight.
UFC 72 – 16 June 2007
The next time the UK held a PPV it would see Rich Franklin vs Yushin Okami take centre stage in a middleweight title eliminator. This time taking place out of England and in Northern Ireland at The Odyssey in Belfast. 8,000 fans came to see this event live and the buy rate sat at a respectable 200,000.
Rich Franklin would come out victorious in the main event and earn a shot at his recently lost middleweight championship. Unfortunately, like his first encounter with Anderson Silva, he would lose the bout due to ‘The Spiders’ knees.
In the co-main event, Forrest Griffin would pick up a unanimous decision over Hector Ramirez. This bout saw him win his next two gaining him light heavyweight gold. MMA legend Clay Guida also competed on the card losing to Tyson Griffin via split decision.
The bonus awards were as follows:
Fight of the Night: Clay Guida vs. Tyson Griffin
Knockout of the Night: Marcus Davis
Submission of the Night: Ed Herman
UFC 80 – January 19th 2008
B.J. Penn vs Joe Stevenson would headline next as the vacant lightweight championship was up for grabs. Once again moving to a new city this event would be held at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England. As 8,412 fans would see the event in person and a further 225,000 would purchase UFC 80.
The vacant lightweight title would return to B.J. Penn five years after he vacated it to pursue other organisations. He defeated Joe Stevenson via second-round rear-naked choke. He’d go on to defend the belt three times setting the record, before losing it to Frankie Edgar.
The rest of the card would see a future champion compete. As pre-released and resigned, Fabricio Werdum scored a round two TKO victory over Gabriel Gonzaga.
The bonus awards were as follows:
Fight of the Night: Paul Taylor vs. Paul Kelly
Knockout of the Night: Wilson Gouveia
Submission of the Night: B.J. Penn
UFC 85 – June 7th 2008
Another non-title bout took centre stage at UFC 85. As Thiago Alves and Matt Hughes topped the bill in a high-level welterweight clash. Returning to the capital this would be the UFC’s second event in The O2 Arena, but their first PPV. Marking their biggest UK attendance to date with 15,327 alongside 215,000 buys.
With no championship up for grabs, Thiago Alves scored a huge flying knee TKO over former title holder Matt Hughes. Alves did miss weight in this bout coming in at 174 lb. He’d go on to win his next bout before unsuccessfully challenging for gold. Where he lost to George St-Pierre at UFC 100.
Future middleweight champion Michael Bisping marked his second appearance in the weight class with a first-round stoppage over Jason Day. Fabricio Werdum returned to the UK defeating Brandon Vera in the first. This gave the Brazilian his third UFC win on British soil.
The bonus awards were as follows:
Fight of the Night: Matt Wiman vs. Thiago Tavares
Knockout of the Night: Thiago Alves
Submission of the Night: Kevin Burns
UFC 204 – October 11th 2016
The final and most famous event on this list is UFC 204. Where Michael Bisping would defend his middleweight championship against longtime rival Dan Henderson. Taking place in Bisping’s hometown the event was held at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. 16,000 fans flocked to see their beloved fight live and a further 290,000 bought the pay-per-view elsewhere.
Bisping would avenge his brutal UFC 100 KO loss at the hands of Henderson seven years prior. Scoring the unanimous victory to defend his title as the crowd went wild. Michael would fight two more times before retiring.
In the co-main event, the now former Bellator Middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi TKOed Vitor Belfort in round two. Then finally, to bring things full circle. UFC’s current welterweight champion, and UFC 286 headliner Leon Edwards, scored a third-round rear-naked-choke over Albert Tumenov.
The bonus awards were as follows:
Fight of the Night: Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson
Performance of the Night: Jimi Manuwa and Iuri Alcântara
What’s your favourite UK UFC pay-per-view?
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
