With UFC London fast approaching, we are looking back at all the cities in the UK that have hosted the global combat giants. Finding fun facts about each region in this eight-part series, starting with the UFC in Northern Ireland.
Each region in these articles has hosted UFC history, some of which has been lost in time.
It might be a lack of provocation to look at some of the extraordinary moments our tiny lands have been part of in the global sport that is MMA. So let’s fix that.
UFC in Northern Ireland: What’s the History?
Belfast has played host to the UFC on two different occasions, once at The Odysses for UFC 72 in June of 2007 and once at The SSE Arena for UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs Hall 2 in November of 2016.
UFC 72 was headlined by former middleweight champion Rick Franklin, who bested Japanese legend Yushin Okami in a three-round main event.
Franklin’s original opponent, Martin Kampmann, was injured in training two months before the event.
UFC in Northern Ireland Was the Carpenters Apprentiship
The fight of the night award was taken home by Hall of Famer, UFC mainstay Clay “The Carpenter” Guida as he took on Tyson Griffin in a losing effort. This was the first of six Fight of the Night bonuses for Guida.
The bout went on to be voted Fight of the Year for 2007, an award he would again collect in 2009 for his awe-inspiring brawl against Diego Sanchez.
Tyson Griffin himself claimed five FOTN bonuses under the Zuffa banner, including three in 2007.
One in a Dozen
TUF 3 Alumni Ed “Short Fuse” Herman made his first European appearance on the same card, finishing the hard-hitting former WEC Light-Heavyweight Champion Scott Smith by rear-naked choke.
The Irish air agreed with Herman on paper. Even so, Herman placed his passport firmly back in his sock drawer until something was offered that suited him on the continent, and it did.
After 12 years, 19 fights, four weight class changes, one catchweight bout, a missing finger, and two tiger tattoos later.
At the sprightly age of 39, Herman decided he would return against an 8-1 Russian prospect Khadis Ibragimov, and he would do it in Moscow.
Ibragimov is a former M-1 Global light heavyweight champion who had never lost in Russia and was a revered two-time combat sambo champion.
So naturally, what happened was that Herman walked into Russia, laid down a beating on the hometown hero who, by the way, was 16 years the junior of “Short Fuse” and received a new contract which keeps him on the roster till this day.
Davis Goes on Tour
“The Irish Hand Grenade” should be a name familiar to all UFC fans.
Marcus Davis, the former boxer turned UFC fighter was a long time fan favourite. With vicious punches and a toughness like his hard to find, his best work took place in the British isles.
UFC 72 was his first UK appearance, and he made short work of his opposition Jason Tan, earning himself knockout of the night honours. Unlike Herman though, Davis took this good omen and ran with it, competing six times consecutively in the UK for the UFC.
It may have been a wise move with Davis going 5-1 in this spell, with four performance of the night bonuses.
UFC in Northern Ireland: Back to Belfast
The UFC didn’t arrive back in Belfast for another nine years, but when it did it flaunted a shiny new look that matched the new look SSE Arena it was to invade, headlined by globe-trotting great Gegard Mousasi.
He took revenge against fearsome knockout artist Uriah Hall by way of stoppage due to punches in the first round.
Rapid Results for “The Dreamcatcher”
This was the fourth first-round stoppage in “The Dreamcatchers” UFC career and the final.
Not long after the fight, Mousasi left the UFC for Bellator, and while having great success, he never secured another first-round finish until he returned to the UK.
This time it was in London against Rafael Carvalho at Bellator 200 for the promotions middleweight championship, the sixth world title of his illustrious career.
Kyoji No More
RIZIN bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi lost once in the UFC, to the then flyweight king and consensus all-time great Demetrious Johnson. Apart from that, he was flawless.
Horiguchi beat seven of their roster fairly handily yet they had no intention of resigning him, instead, they gave him empty matchups until his contract expired.
If anything good came of his UFC run it was the fact that for the last fight on his contract, they matched Horiguchi up with Ali Bagunotinov in Belfast. To date, this has been the only chance any UK fans have had to see the dynamic Japanese fighter show his skills live.
The Knockout Kings
Abdul Hazak Alhassan holds the honour of the fastest knockout in a UFC event in Northern Ireland with a 53-second mauling of SBG fighter Charlie Ward. Ward joined the company with the influx of Irish fighters following Conor McGregors breakthrough year.
Ward suffered another unfortunate knockout loss via slam in his next outing.It resulted in his departure from the UFC roster. Popular Welsh slugger Jack Marshman made his UFC debut at the event also, earning a performance bonus for his knockout over Magnus Ceddenblad.
Ceddenblad was 4-1 in his UFC stint prior to the Marshman fight, he had not lost since his UFC debut to Francis Carmont. Due to injuries, this ended up being the last fight of Ceddenblads career, while Marshman continues to hold the Welsh flag high in the UFC today.
Who Am I to Judge?
As well as being the one and only UFC appearance in the UK for all-time great candidate Artem Lobov, UFC London headliner Alexander Volkov made the walk into the octagon for the first time against Tim Johnson. Volkov won by split decision on a strange night of judging verdicts in Belfast.
On two scorecards the Russian took home the verdict, winning 29-28. On the third, however, Johnson won easily taking home a 30-27 score.
In the following fight Scotsman, Stevie Ray took on Ross Pearson, the hard-hitting veteran from Sunderland. Ray won 30-27 on two scorecards, yet still took home only a split decision victory.
This is because of Andreas Gruner, a European judge who seemed to think Pearson dominated all 3 rounds awarding him a 30-27 score in his favour.
Well, that’s all for Northern Ireland, what’s been your favourite fight to take place in Belfast?
Did you know any of the facts already?
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Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
