We look at five fighters that could be called up to the world’s premier mixed martial arts promotion, The Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Luke Riley
Initially starting in boxing and Muay Thai, the twenty-five-year-old from Widnes now boasts a 10-0 MMA record under one of the two UK partners available for fans’ viewing pleasure on UFC fight pass: Cage Warriors. They have produced over 100 fighters to reach the UFC, involving some of the best ever. Michael Bisping, Conor McGregor, Tom Aspinall, and Ilia Topuria have all donned the famous yellow gloves, and each has reached superstar status.
Riley trains out of Next Generation in Liverpool alongside UFC fighters Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett and Molly McCann. He was crowned Fighter of the Year in 2023 and was involved in Fight of the Year with Alexander Lööf. He is well known for his electric fighting style, where he loves to stand and bang with his opponents, which has seen him achieve seven ko/tko victories in the ten fights he’s had so far. Considering that he’s only operated as a professional mixed martial artist for thirty-nine months, he has made remarkable strides in following the footsteps of those mentioned, pardon the pun.
Luke was due to fight on Dana White’s Contender Series last August, but an issue with a visa being granted in time for the promotion scheduled date prevented it from happening. The UFC are returning to the UK in March and with his two training partners both announcing that they’ve signed contracts to be on the card there are hopes that the undefeated prospect will be joining them.
RILEY VS LOOF. CAGE WARRIORS 2023 FIGHT OF THE YEAR. WATCH HERE: Greatest Fight in CW History! | Luke Riley vs. Alexander Lööf | Cage Warriors Fight of the Year 2023 – YouTube
Dakota Ditcheva
At just 26 years of age, the Mancunian holds a record of 14-0 with twelve finishes, one submission and one decision win. ‘Dangerous’ has obliterated every challenger she’s ever faced in the Professional Fighters League and now finds herself as the current world flyweight champion.
In her last outing against Talia Santos, she kept her 100% finish rate in the PFL going. Stopping her in round two from vicious shots to the body after the former UFC flyweight title challenger had no answer to the puzzle of Ditcheva, who had a visible size and range advantage, towering over the Brazilian, who winced as the punches connected, making it look extremely easy against an opponent who arguably gave the current UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko her toughest fight to date.
Santos was seen as Ditcheva’s strongest match-up thus far in her career. After becoming European and world champion in two years, there are now multiple major MMA news outlets and fans who are asking for the die-hard Manchester City supporters to receive a phone call from the UFC.
Losene Keita
A two-weight champion in Oktagon MMA at just twenty-seven years of age, the Belgian carries a 16-1 professional record and sits top of the promotions pound-for-pound rankings list. Several reports have revealed that he turned a contract down with various other promotions before re-signing with Oktagon in January 2024.
The UFC was reportedly one of those organizations, and with the only blemish on his record because of a foot injury, he is still technically unbeaten, which makes him hot property and one of the best upcoming fighters in the world. With his exciting style, ‘Black Panther’ consistently produces those holy sh*t moments that Dana White wants under his banner.
Naturally, the world’s biggest promotion will be monitoring his situation closely. When asked at the recent Oktagon 65 post-fight press conference if he still wishes to ply his trade there and if he has completed what he wanted to achieve under his current promotion, he said “I don’t know yet, let me go home and relax then we will talk about that but for now I’m not done with Oktagon yet!”
Keita’s contract with the Czech/Slovak outfit is a multi-year deal, but if there was an instance where he gets offered a package he can’t refuse from the UFC, then Oktagon will likely and hopefully not stand in his way and allow the hottest European talent move onto the world level. The promotion previously granted bantamweight champion Felipe Lima release from his contract despite being scheduled to defend his title against Jonas Magard in July of last year until he received a call-up on two weeks notice to face Muhammad Naimov on a UFC fight night card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Shem Rock
Shem Rock fights out of Next Generation MMA Liverpool and was seen as the face of the UK expansion for Oktagon MMA until the promotion put plans to return on hold. After winning on home soil earlier this year in spectacular fashion over Stefano Cattacoli, he followed that up with a big win at Oktagon 58 inside the home of Slavia Prague FC. That win came against Jaroslav Pokorny, with whom he had a long-standing rivalry after their original fight was cancelled in November 2023. Pokorny was withdrawn on fight day after Rock landed a kick to the ribs at the weigh-in. Which allegedly caused enough damage to pull him from the fight despite no physical X-ray evidence.
Rock found mixed martial arts when he went on the run for almost ten years for a crime he didn’t commit. He has since returned to the UK, been arrested, jailed, acquitted, and fought on Europe’s biggest MMA promotion numerous times. His skill set is high calibre, and in his two fights this year, he has dispatched both opponents in the first round. It took just one minute forty-seven seconds to force Cattacoli to tap at Oktagon 56 and three minutes six seconds to put Pokorny out cold six weeks later.
Honing his craft with the aforementioned Luke Riley, they have produced big moments under their respective employer’s banner for some time now. Another popular figure on the UK MMA scene, Rock, 31, is the number five ranked lightweight in the UK with Tapology and has made no secret about his desire to reach the UFC sooner rather than later. With a good back story and a fighting style that is very pleasing to the eye, he would certainly be a fan favourite among the wider audience.
Patricio Pitbull
At thirty-seven years of age, a fighter at a different point in his career to those previously mentioned could still find himself with a UFC opportunity. That is due to the breakdown in communication with PFL, which has seen him remain inactive since March 2024, despite being champion of the Bellator banner, which they merged with a couple of years back.
Pitbull took matters into his own hands earlier this year and continued calling out of the promotion in another barrage of messages last month on X.
“My management team had a call with [Pete Murray] tonight, and despite making clear my desire to leave and some of my reasons, even noticing my contract is up in May, PFL won’t let me go and intends to hold me against my will,” Pitbull wrote.
“You say you’re fighters first but decided to keep me hostage [Donn Davis], [Pete Murray]. It’s really absurd and disappointing that I have to come on X to voice all this. Do the right thing and release me… I was a Bellator fighter and it no longer exists. The promotion is gone and so should I.”
Pitbull followed up, “I haven’t fought since March. They want me to fight in April. Over a year of my life and career that I’ll never get back.”
Despite having miles on the clock, the Brazilian featherweight still feels like he has plenty in the tank, and with him publicly stating that he wishes to pursue an opportunity elsewhere, it remains to be seen whether that will be with the marquee promotion at this stage of his career. But it still could be a possibility and certainly not to be ruled out; it would be a similar situation to another former Bellator fighter, Michael Page, who debuted with the UFC last year at 36 years of age after going 17-2 with his former employer.
