Despite not being as popular as football or rugby, MMA events are growing in popularity year by year here in the UK. MMA fighters might not have the exorbitant salaries footballers have but they are now able to make a living out of it since more and more sponsors are helping support this violent but exciting sport.

Top 5 British MMA Fighters:

Michael Bisping (22-3)

Michael Bisping a.k.a "The Count" has a record of 22 victories and 3 losses. Bisping became famous after being the coach of team UK in the Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom aired in 2009. That same year he lost to rival coach Dan Handerson and bounced back with TKO victory over Danial Kang. Like the majority of UK fighters "The Count" is a standup fighter with fast and powerful punches, hence the fact that all his TKO victories were by knock downs. Ranked by Sherdog as the 10th Middleweight fighter Bisping won his last fight in UFC 127 against Jorge Rivera.

Dan Hardy (23-7)

Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy has been fighting MMA professionally since 2004 and has a record of 23 victories and 7 losses. Hardy is a true mixed martial arts fighter with complete skills, be it on the ground or standing up. Despite being an UFC fighter "The Outlaw" is the current Cage Warriors Welterweight World Champion and is the current Light-Welterweight Champion and also the UK Storm British Champion. Hardy made his debut in the UFC back in 2008 and is considered as the number one contender to George St Pierre (current Welterweight UFC champion) despite having lost to him last year in UFC 111 by ref decision.

Paul Daley (27-10-2)

Paul "Semtex" Daley was born in Nottingham and holds a record of 27 victories, 10 losses and 2 draws. "Semtex" is one of the most experienced UK fighters who has fought in major MMA events around the globe including the UFC, Strikeforce and of course in BAMMA. Currently ranked the #10 best welterweights in the world by Sherdog and the ninth best welterweight in the world by Yahoo! Sports. Daley’s fighting style uses a mixture of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Boxing and Muay Thai. Despite loosing his last fight in Strikeforce against Nick Diaz, "Semtex" has a chance to redeem himself against Tyron Woodley on the 20th of July also in Strikeforce.

John Hathaway (15-1)

John Hathaway a.k.a The Hitman is a reasonably young British MMA fighter fighting in the UFC and has a record of 15 victories and 1 loss. John has won his first two fights in the UFC beating Tom Egan at UFC 93 and Rick Story at UFC 99, but lost to Mike Pyle in UFC by unanimous decision. Currently training out of ZT Fight Skool in his hometown of Brighton and London Shootfighters in London, "The Hitman" has a balanced fighting style that mixes submissions, striking and takedowns.

Ross Pearson (10-3)

Ross "The Real Deal" Pearson is another signed UFC fighter with a fighting record of 14 victories and 4 losses inside the octagon. Former The Ultimate Fighter champ has won his last UFC fight against Spencer Fisher in UFC 127 and hasn't fought since. "The Real Deal" is a true striker but knows his way in the ground thanks to his dedicated time to wrestling and ground pound training.

Do you consider the MMA fighters mentioned above as the top UK MMA fighters? Share your thoughts in our comments.

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