Brad Pickett has paid tribute to the fighters who put British mixed martial arts on the map.
“One Punch” was a hugely influential figure in the rise of the sport in the British Isles.
During an iconic career spanning from 2004 to 2017, Pickett established himself as the greatest British mixed martial artist to ever lace up gloves.
He fought from flyweight (125 pounds) to lightweight (155 pounds) and enjoyed a lot of success, including defeating the greatest boxer of all time, Demetrious Johnson, winning the Cage Rage featherweight title and going on a 14-fight straight streak with the UFC.
But when asked about the British MMA Mount Rushmore, Pickett humbly chose not to include himself.
“Leon Edwards has defended the UFC title the most so he'll be up there, but in terms of pioneers of British MMA, there are three names,” he told talkSPORT.com.
“The first is Dan Hardy, who really managed to bring attention to UK MMA when he won his title fight against Georges St-Pierre and showed the strength and tenacity to win by decision.”
“The other one is Michael Bisping, who is at the top for me as he was the first Brit to win a UFC title, and number four is Paul 'Semtex' Daley.”
“He's fought a lot of people and been around for a long time.
“A lot of people don't know UK MMA, they only know UK UFC, and most of his achievements are outside of UFC.”
“He's a really good striker and had great success in Cage Rage in the UK and Strikeforce in the US.
“Alongside these names, Tom Aspinall will probably be on that list at some stage, but he is still in the early stages of his career at the moment.”
Edwards and Bisping would surely be on any British MMA Mount Rushmore as the only two fighters to have won a full UFC title.
Bisping famously defeated Luke Rockhold in 2016, despite only being given 17 days' notice, to wrestle the UFC middleweight belt from his cocky rival.
Meanwhile, Edwards, the current UFC welterweight champion, won the belt with a late head knockout against Kamaru Usman two years ago.
Hardy was the first British mixed martial artist to compete for a UFC title, challenging St-Pierre for the welterweight title in 2010, and is a worthy addition to the team.
Although Hardy wasn't able to beat the Canadian legend, his courageous display proved that British mixed martial artists can compete at the highest level of the sport.
Daly, the fourth fighter on Pickett's list, may be seen as a surprising choice by some fans given his short tenure with the sport's premier organization.
But it's what he's accomplished outside of the UFC that makes him a worthy challenger.
Daley was banned for life by UFC president Dana White after he ambushes Josh Koszek shortly after his fourth UFC fight.
After the incident, White said, “I don't care if Daley fights in every competition in the world and becomes the best, and everyone thinks he's the best pound-for-pound in the world, he'll never fight in the UFC again.”
In the years since being kicked out of the UFC, Daley defeated a number of big names, including Jorge Masvidal, Lorenz Larkin and Erick Silva, to compete for the Strikeforce welterweight title.
