British MMA: How Leon Edwards and Brendan Loughnane have taken the sport to new levels

Never has British MMA shone as brightly as it has in the past 12 months.

January started with only two British fighters, in Michael Bisping and Liam McGeary, having won world titles in major promotions. But that total has been doubled inside a year.

Birmingham's Leon Edwards, 31, claimed gold first, becoming only the second British champion in UFC history after Bisping in 2016, when he defeated Kamaru Usman for the welterweight belt in August.

Winning the title only tells half of the story however, with the manor of victory capping an extraordinary rise to the summit for Edwards.

In the final round, heading for defeat having been out-wrestled by the UFC's pound-for-pound number one fighter for the majority of the fight, Edwards produced a stunning head kick to knock out Usman, providing one of the biggest shocks in the sport's history.

Manchester's Brendan Loughnane, 33, followed Edwards' heroics, becoming Britain's first Professional Fighters League champion when he beat Bubba Jenkins for the featherweight title and $1m (£840,000) prize last month.

The victory was Loughnane's fourth of a gruelling year, illustrating the determination, which he has shown multiple times throughout his 14-year career, to overcome obstacles in achieving success.

"It's huge. We've got two world champions, so it's been an incredible year," said Loughnane.

"We're just tough aren't we, the English? We've put a stellar group together.

"Leon was 3-1 down and came back and pulled the knockout out. You've got Arnold [Allen] who could win the title next year, I think he could honestly beat [Alexander] Volkanovski.

"Then you've got Tom [Aspinall], if he didn't get that injury he'd be well in line for a title now. And Muhammad [Mokaev] is not far off a title shot at flyweight.

"What a time to be a British MMA fighter, and I can see more gold coming in the very, very near future."

Could 2023 be even bigger?

British MMA athletes have historically been strong strikers who have sometimes come unstuck against better grapplers in the past.

Edwards and Loughnane's wins over wrestling-orientated opponents, coupled with a number of other standout performances from Britons this year however, show the gap in grappling has narrowed.

Loughnane mentions a number of other British fighters who have enjoyed fine years, putting themselves on the fringes of world title conversations and potential shots at glory in 2023.

Allen, who is ranked fourth in the UFC's featherweight rankings, can count himself unlucky to have missed out on an interim title shot in February, which features Yair Rodriguez and Josh Emmett.

The 28-year-old enjoyed notable victories this year over Dan Hooker and Calvin Kattar, extending his unbeaten run in the UFC to 10.

Aspinall, 29, has also proven his credentials as a star in 2022, headlining UFC London events with victory over Alexander Volkov, before suffering a knee injury in i defeat to Curtis Blaydes in July.

Meanwhile, Mokaev has enjoyed one of the breakthroughs of the year, the 22-year-old winning three fights to rise to 14 in the UFC's flyweight rankings.

Elsewhere, a remarkable story is brewing in Bellator, where Fabian Edwards may get the chance to join his older brother Leon as a world champion.

Never before have there been siblings who are simultaneous MMA world champions in separate promotions, but Edwards could get an opportunity to make history should Bellator pitch him against middleweight title holder Johnny Eblen.

Edwards, 29, enjoyed wins over Lyoto Machida in May and Charlie Ward in October, rising to second in Bellator's middleweight rankings.

A superstar emerges

It speaks volumes about the level of success British MMA has enjoyed this year when we're only just mentioning Paddy Pimblett.

Pimblett is further away from a title shot than the aforementioned fighters, but the effect he has had on the sport in 2022 has been spellbinding.

The 27-year-old Liverpudlian has grown into one of the UFC's biggest stars, illustrated by his co-headlining appearance against Jared Gordon at UFC 282 earlier this month, and also due to his endearing personality which has connected with fans.

Inside the octagon Pimblett has three wins this year, although his win over Gordon divided opinion among fans and pundits.

Pimblett's team-mate Molly McCann also rose to stardom with two knockout-of-the-year contenders at UFC London in March and July, before suffering defeat to Erin Blanchfield in November.

Despite that loss, McCann can still look back on a successful year where she has cemented her status as one of UK's most marketable fighters.

It will be fascinating to see how Pimblett and McCann's careers develop further over the next 12 months.

The UK scene is thriving

A final word on MMA in Britain, where a number of fighters in UK-based promotion Cage Warriors have had years to remember.

Northern Ireland's Paul Hughes beat Jordan Vucenic last month for the undisputed featherweight title in a bout billed as the biggest rematch in the promotion's history.

Elsewhere, Sam Creasey, Rhys McKee and George Hardwick all end the year as champions in their respective divisions after enjoying a successful 12 months.

Cage Warriors, which is affiliated with the UFC, has a history of producing future world champions including Bisping, Conor McGregor and Joanna Jedrzejczyk, so success in the promotion can often be a stepping stone.

Pimblett, who is a former Cage Warriors featherweight champion, is the latest example of a fighter who has achieved stardom on the world stage.

Could 2023 see another Briton make the move and break through?

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