We take a have a look at five fighters who could be called up for the world’s premier mixed martial arts promotion, The Ultimate Fighting Ch.
Luke Riley
The twenty-five-year-old from Widnes initially started off in boxing and Muay Thai, and now boasts a 10-0 MMA record with one among two British partners available for fans to watch as a part of the UFC pass: Cage Warriors. They have produced over 100 fighters who have made it to the UFC, including a few of the best in history. Michael Bisping, Conor McGregor, Tom Aspinall and Ilia Topuria donned the famous yellow gloves and every achieved superstar status.
Riley he trains at Next Generation in Liverpool alongside UFC fighters Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett and Molly McCann. He was crowned Fighter of the Year in 2023 and competed in Fight of the Year with Alexander Lööf. He is well-known for his electric fighting style during which he loves to stand and fight his opponents, which has resulted in seven KO/TKO victories in ten fights to date. Considering he has only been lively as knowledgeable mixed martial arts fighter for thirty-nine months, he has made remarkable progress following in the footsteps of those mentioned, pardon the pun.
Luke was supposed to fight last August in Dana White’s Contender Series, but a visa problem before the scheduled promotion date prevented it. The UFC returns to the UK in March and its two training partners have announced that they’ve signed contracts and shall be at the event, so it’s hoped that the undefeated prospect will join them.
RILEY vs. LOOF. FIGHT OF THE YEAR 2023 CAGE WARRIORS. WATCH HERE: The best fight in CW history! | Luke Riley vs. Alexander Lööf | Fight of the Year 2023 Cage Warriors – YouTube
Dakota Ditcheva
At just 26 years old, the Mancunian has a 14-0 record with twelve finishes, one submission and one decision victory. “Dangerous” destroyed every challenger she ever faced League of Professional Warriors and now she is the current flyweight world champion.
In her last match against Talia Santos, she maintained a 100% success rate in the PFL. Stopping her in the second round with brutal body shots after the former UFC flyweight title challenger failed to answer the riddle: Ditchevwho had a noticeable advantage in size and reach, towering over the Brazilian, who winced as the punches connected, making the fight against the opponent who likely produced the current UFC flyweight champion look extremely easy Valentina Shevchenko her hardest fight to date.
Santos was seen as Ditcheva’s strongest fight of her profession to date. After becoming European and world champion inside two years, many major news outlets and MMA fans at the moment are asking die-hard Manchester City fans to call the UFC.
Losene Keita
A two-weight champion in the MMA Octagon at just twenty-seven years old, the Belgian has knowledgeable record of 16-1 and tops the promotion’s pound-for-pound charts. Several reports revealed that he turned down a contract with various other promotions before re-signing with Oktagon in January 2024.
UFC was reportedly one such promotion, and despite the only blemish on his record being a foot injury, he remains to be technically undefeated, making him popular and one among the best upcoming fighters in the world. Thanks to its thrilling style, “Black Panther” consistently creates those rattling moments that Dana White craves under her banner.
Naturally, the world’s biggest promotion shall be monitoring his situation closely. When asked at the recent Oktagon 65 post-fight press conference if he still wanted to work there and if he had achieved what he wanted to achieve together with his current promotion, he replied: “I do not know yet, let me go home and loosen up after which we’ll speak about it, but I’m not done with the Octagon yet!”
Keita’s contract with the Czech-Slovak team is a multi-year deal, but when there was a case where he was offered a package the UFC couldn’t refuse, the Octagon would likely and hopefully not stand in his way and permit Europe’s hottest talents to step up to the world level. The promotion previously granted bantamweight champion Felipe Lima a contract release regardless that he was scheduled to defend his title against Jonas Magard last July until he was called up on two weeks’ notice to fight Muhammad Naimov on the UFC’s fight night card in Riyad. , Saudi Arabia.
Sem Rock
Sem Rock fights with Next Generation MMA Liverpool and was seen as the face of Octagon MMA’s British expansion until the promotion put its return plans on hold. After a spectacular home win over Stefano Cattacoli earlier this year, he then scored an enormous victory at Octagon 58 at the Slavia Prague Stadium. That victory went to Jaroslav Pokorny, whom he had a long-time rivalry with after their original November 2023 fight was canceled. Pokorny was withdrawn on fight day after Rock kicked him in the ribs during the weigh-in. Which allegedly caused enough damage to take him out of the fight despite the lack of physical evidence from X-rays.
Rock discovered mixed martial arts while on the run for nearly a decade for a criminal offense he didn’t commit. He has since returned to the UK, been arrested, jailed, acquitted and fought multiple times for Europe’s largest MMA promotion. His skills are at a high level, and in two fights this year he knocked out each opponents in the first round. It took one minute and forty-seven seconds for Cattacoli to hit Oktagon 56, and three minutes and 6 seconds to finish Pokorny six weeks later.
Having honed their craft under the tutelage of the aforementioned Luke Riley, they’ve been producing great moments under their employer’s banner for a while now. Another popular figure on the British MMA scene, Rock, 31, is Tapology’s fifth-ranked UK lightweight and has made no secret of his desire to make it to the UFC eventually. With story and a really eye-catching fighting style, it would definitely grow to be a fan favorite amongst the general public.
Patrick Pitbull
At the age of thirty-seven, a fighter who is at a distinct stage of his profession than those previously mentioned can still discover a probability to fight in the UFC. This is due to a breakdown in communication with PFL, because of this of which he has remained inactive since March 2024, despite being the champion of the Bellator banner, with which the team merged several years ago.
Pitbull took matters into his own hands earlier this year and last month, in one other flurry of messages on X., he continued to call for a promotion.
“My leadership team talked to [Pete Murray] “Even though I clearly expressed my desire to leave and some of my reasons, and even noticed that my contract expires in May, PFL does not want to let me go and intends to keep me against my will,” Pitbull wrote.
“You said you were warriors first, but you made the decision to hold me hostage [Donn Davis], [Pete Murray]. It’s really absurd and disappointing that I even have to come to X to express all this. Do the right thing and let me go… I used to be a Bellator fighter and that does not exist anymore. There isn’t any promotion anymore and neither should I.
Pitbull added: “I have not fought since March. They want me to fight in April. Over a year of my life and profession that I won’t ever get back.
Despite loads of miles under his belt, the Brazilian featherweight still feels he has plenty in the tank, and after publicly stating that he wants to pursue opportunities elsewhere, it stays to be seen whether that shall be possible at this stage with promotion in the marquee of his profession. However, it should be a possibility and it definitely can’t be ruled out; it might be the same situation to one other former Bellator fighter, Michael Page, who made his UFC debut last year at the age of 36 after going 17-2 together with his former employer.
