Are you like me? Like me, in this instance, meaning ignorant of British sports matters? I mean, I’ve been to England. I watched their sports shows. I can groove on some soccer, but after that it’s, like, handball and things. They’re into Olympic sports at times other than the Olympics. Whaaa? And they drive on the left side of the road, too. Sounds great, British people. Whatever you want to do. Hey, I’ll be over here in my spaceship. It runs on used peanut oil and room-temperature Boddington’s.
Ah, I kid, I kid. I love Great Britain and British culture. And the beverages really aren’t that warm. They also have a lot of really talented and exciting MMA fighters. But still, being a generally non-UK sporting person, I had to look up the meaning behind the title of the recent UFC reality show, The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes, which pits English fighters against Australians. Turns out it’s a clever play on The Ashes, a biennial cricket series between England and Australia. So that’s exciting.
As it happens, The Smashes comes to a head in a few days at UFC on FX 6, which will air in the U.S. on Friday and features the finals of the show and several other tantalizing matchups. To celebrate the occasion, here is a list of the best British fighters working in MMA today.