5 of the best UFC fights to take place in the UK

#2. Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Mirko Cro Cop – UFC 70

Nobody saw Gabriel Gonzaga's infamous knockout of Mirko Cro Cop coming

In April 2007, when the UFC returned to the UK for the first time in five years, the promotion brought plenty of big guns. However, none were bigger than headliner Mirko Cro Cop.

The PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix champion was the promotion’s biggest acquisition in years. Given that he’d been destroying top fighters for years in Japan and had walked through Eddie Sanchez in his octagon debut, it seemed like only a matter of time before he captured UFC gold.

When he was matched with Brazilian grappler Gabriel Gonzaga with a shot at Randy Couture’s heavyweight title on the line, then, it seemed academic that the Croatian would probably end things violently.

Incredibly, though, the exact opposite happened. Cro Cop did land one of his famed kicks to the body in the fight’s early going, only for ‘Napao’ to eat it right up and counter with a takedown. From there, he went to work with a series of stiff elbows from the top position.

When referee Herb Dean stood the fight up, it felt like Cro Cop would finally get his chance to find a fight-ending strike. Before he could even attempt one, Gonzaga stunned everyone by landing a brutal right head kick, essentially beating the Croatian at his own game.

Cro Cop was folded, knocked completely unconscious by the shot, and the live crowd were basically stunned into silence in the process.

Not only was this one of the biggest upsets in MMA history, it was also one of the most violent finishes that has ever taken place in the octagon. More than that, it transformed the promotion’s return to the UK into one of the most memorable events ever, something that still rings true over a decade on.

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#1. Michael Bisping vs. Anderson Silva – UFC Fight Night 84

Michael Bisping and Anderson Silva produced a classic when they met in London in February 2016

While it didn’t feature an explosive finish like Condit vs. Hardy or Gonzaga vs. Cro Cop, it’s probably fair to suggest that the greatest UFC fight to ever take place on UK soil remains the February 2016 clash between former middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva and British favorite Michael Bisping.

At the time, it felt like the promotion was essentially throwing a bone to Bisping for his years of hard work and persistence. After all, ‘The Count’ had been chasing a fight with Silva for years while he was middleweight champion, only for it to slip away from his grasp every time.

With Silva’s title reign now over, though, there was no reason not to make the fight. It made for a naturally intriguing headline bout for 2016’s visit to London, despite many fans believing both men were past their primes.

If that was the case, neither man showed it when they stepped into the octagon. The first round saw Bisping push the pace, while Silva seemed almost too content to attempt to dance around and draw him into a false sense of security. That gameplan quickly went out of the window when ‘The Count’ dropped him in the dying moments of the second round, seemingly coming close to stopping him.

Sure enough, ‘The Spider’ turned the heat up on the Brit in the third round, pushing the pace more than he’d done before and landing with some cleaner strikes. When he knocked Bisping’s mouthpiece out with a combination dying seconds, ‘The Count’ made the error of signaling to referee Herb Dean, allowing Silva to crumple him with a flying knee.

Suddenly, mayhem broke out, as Silva assumed the fight was over, climbing the fence in celebration, only to be told by Dean that the round was over, not the fight itself. Somehow, despite being left a bloody mess, Bisping had survived.

From there, the fight was all about the sheer heart of ‘The Count’, as he willed himself back into proceedings and took the fourth round with his superior volume. He then survived one of Silva’s patented front kicks to the jaw in the dying seconds of the fifth.

The fight ended up in the hands of the judges. Deciding he’d won the first, second and fourth rounds, Bisping was awarded a decision, giving him the biggest win of his career, even if Silva was slightly past his best.

‘The Count’ famously went one better in his next fight, winning the middleweight title from Luke Rockhold in a classic upset. However, in terms of a sheer visceral thrill, the clash with Silva remains his best fight, and it stands at the top of all the fights to take place in the UK over the years.