The 5 best UFC fighters from the UK

#4 Ross Pearson

Ross Pearson has fought a who's who at 155lbs in the UFC

One-half of two British winners of season 9 of the Ultimate Fighter, big things weren’t really expected of ‘The Real Deal’ as he won the finale with Andre Winner by a hair after a largely dull fight. Subsequent wins over Aaron Riley and Dennis Siver – both solid contenders – put that idea to bed, though, and Pearson has gone on to become one of the UFC’s most consistent fighters at 155lbs.

Despite never picking up quite enough traction to make it into the top five at Lightweight, Pearson’s list of opponents reads like a who’s who of UFC Lightweights in the past decade. Spencer Fisher, Edson Barboza, Gray Maynard, Diego Sanchez, Francisco Trinaldo and Al Iaquinta have all faced off with the Sunderland-based fighter at some point. He even coached a season of TUF himself – opposing Australian George Sotiropoulos in 2012’s ‘The Smashes’ and beating Sotiropoulos at the finale by knockout.

Pearson has recently been on a bit of a slide – he’s lost his last four fights as his career seems to be winding down – but due to his longevity – he’s had 23 fights in the UFC which is more than most fighters manage, and at 11 wins and 11 losses (with one No Contest) he certainly belongs on this list. At his peak, he was a tough out for even the very best at 155lbs.