Merseyside MMA continues to grow with yet another promising talent making it to the UFC in Luke Riley.
Featherweight Riley, who trains alongside MMA star Paddy Pimblett, will be looking to extend his 11-0-0 pro record in Doha, Qatar, where he is set to face Austrian Bogdan Grad at UFC Fight Night.
The bout will take place on UFC Fight Night on November 22 as part of a strong card that includes Arman Tsarukyan against Dan Hooker and ex-UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad taking on Ian Machado Garry.
Riley has done nothing but impress over the last few years in Cage Warriors racking up 11 wins since October 2021.
Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett has been a long-time supporter of Riley, taking to Instagram to say ‘it was inevitable, all you FWs aren’t ready for my boy WATCH’ after the announcement was made.
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Riley’s opponent Grad will be going into the fight as the more experienced of the pair having already had two appearances in the UFC this year. However, coming off a loss in his last fight to Muhammad Naimov in June, Riley will see it as the perfect time to use his momentum.
Mixed Martial Arts Boom in Merseyside
MMA in Merseyside appears to be hotter than ever before at the moment, producing a high level of talent in the UK with the likes of Pimblett, Riley, Molly McCann, Liam Gittins and UFC title holder Tom Aspinall.
In the past, it’s been boxing that has dominated the region producing fighters such as John Conteh in the 70’s, Paul Hodkinson, Peter Culshaw, and Robin Reid in the 90’s, Tony Bellew and the Smith brothers in the 10’s, and Nick Ball today.
Yet despite boxing still being popular in Merseyside, the waves of MMA are growing stronger, particularly over the past 10 years.
The Growth of MMA in the UK grew massively during Michael Bisping’s run and then Conor McGregor’s, but it perhaps saw its biggest growth in Liverpool with Darren Till.
Till gained a lot of popularity around 2016-2019 and was by far the biggest name Liverpool had seen in the UFC so far.
His talent and pride for the city brought the UFC to Liverpool for the first time in 2018 where he faced Stephen Thompson in the main event at the now M&S Bank Arena.
Till would win that fight convincingly via decision and celebrations broke out in the city. It caused a boom in a sport that was already growing and brimming with talent in the region.
In the years that followed, fighters began to be spotted by top promoters. Merseyside became an MMA hotspot and this has continued to grow over the past seven years.
The hope around the region will be that Riley can be one of the next to take Merseyside’s MMA reputation to yet another level alongside Pimblett, Rock, and Aspinall. A win against Grad would certainly be a big step in the right direction for the featherweight prospect.
Looking ahead, Aspinall is set to take on Ciryl Gane in a Heavyweight title defence at UFC 321 on October 25th. This will be Aspinall’s first defence of the title after a 15-month break.
An announcement for Pimblett’s next fight is also expected in the coming months with the likes of lightweight champion Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway being rumoured opponents for the 30 year old.
