5 UFC fighters from the UK who failed to live up to their hype

#2. Lee Murray – former UFC middleweight contender

Lee Murray entered the UFC with a fearsome reputation, but his MMA career was quickly derailed

While Ian Freeman was the first fighter from the UK to compete in the octagon, and Michael Bisping went onto become the first from the country to claim UFC gold, it’s arguable that the most heavily hyped English fighter in the promotion’s history was Lee Murray.

While ‘Lightning’ only held a record of 7-1-1 when he signed with the promotion in early 2004, the reputation he brought with him from London was truly terrifying.

A notorious street fighter, Murray had purportedly knocked out hundreds of opponents in brawls over the years – including then-UFC poster boy Tito Ortiz, who supposedly fell at the hands of ‘Lightning’ in a wild clash after the promotion’s event at the Royal Albert Hall in 2002.

Despite competing a weight class lower than Ortiz, a potential fight between Murray and ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ was on everyone’s mind when he finally made his octagon debut, and when he dismissed Jorge Rivera in under two minutes with a triangle choke, it was impossible not to be excited.

Unfortunately, before any grand plans could be made, disaster struck for Murray. He was unable to secure a Visa to enter the US due to an ongoing legal issue, putting his career with the UFC on hold indefinitely.

Murray fought once more in the UK under the Cage Rage banner – taking future legend Anderson Silva to decision – but before he could resume his MMA career, he suffered a near-fatal stabbing that resulted in his eventual retirement.

‘Lightning’ is now better known for masterminding Europe’s biggest-ever robbery in 2006, a crime for which he is still serving jail time in Morocco. Quite how far he could’ve gone in his MMA career still remains up for debate, but it’s fair to say that due to his issues, his octagon run didn’t live up to the hype.

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#1. Paul Daley – former UFC welterweight contender

Paul Daley's career in the octagon was ruined by one big mistake

While Lee Murray entered the UFC with a huge reputation and the likes of Dan Hardy and Michael Bisping built theirs up over time, it’s safe to say that no UK-based fighter made quite as much impact in their octagon debut as Paul Daley.

‘Semtex’ had built up quite the record on the regional circuit by the time he arrived in the world’s biggest MMA promotion, as he’d fought for the likes of Elite XC, Cage Rage and StrikeForce, going 21-8-2 overall.

When the Affliction promotion crashed in mid-2009 and the majority of its fighters made their way to the UFC, Daley was matched with perennial title contender Martin Kampmann, who had never been beaten at 170lbs.

Nobody really gave ‘Semtex’ a chance, but instead, he destroyed his Danish opponent with his brutally heavy hands, putting him away in the first round. When he followed that win with a second octagon victory – practically knocking Dustin Hazelett across the cage – it looked like Daley would go onto become a surefire star.

The UFC were happy to push him as such. Sensing that he could be a villainous foil for welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, they matched him with fellow heel Josh Koscheck to decide who would challenge the Canadian next.

From there, everything went wrong for ‘Semtex’. Not only did he lose the fight to Koscheck handily, as he was unable to stop the wrestler’s takedowns, he also blew his top when ‘Kos’ taunted him after the fight – and threw a post-fight sucker punch that shocked the entire promotion.

Dana White subsequently expelled Daley from the promotion, promising he’d never return – and despite later success in StrikeForce, BAMMA and Bellator, the President was good to his word.

Daley last fought in June 2021, but has never been back in the octagon, meaning he remains the greatest example of a British fighter who never reached his potential in the UFC.