EXCLUSIVE | Reece McEwan Claims MMA Surge in the UK Is ‘Just The Beginning’

Cage Warriors bantamweight Reece McEwan has claimed that the current MMA surge in the UK is ‘just the beginning’.

Over recent years, MMA in the UK has grown massively with a new generation of British fighters taking over the biggest promotions in the world.

Leon Edwards cemented himself as the best welterweight on the planet, defeating Kamaru Usman twice, while Brendan Loughnane came out of 2022 as the PFL featherweight champion. This weekend, Arnold Allen takes on former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway in a fight that will surely propel ‘Almighty’ into title contention with a win.

For McEwan, he looked set to compete in a big Cage Warriors card this weekend in Manchester. However, he unfortunately withdrew due to a staph infection.

The 28-year-old praised UK MMA in an exclusive interview with Combat Sports UK.

Speaking to Lewis Glover, he said: “It’s absolutely incredible to be fair. When you watch the UFC London cards, or [you see] the names that are poised to fight for the next cars, it’s incredible.

“There’s so many prospects coming out of Scotland, so many prospects coming out of the UK – the perfect example is Leon Edwards, going and beating the pound-for-pound king Kamaru Usman twice back-to-back.

“So, the UK is flying right now, Scotland is an upcoming country [in MMA] and it just shows you that the pathway to be a world champion, to be in the UFC is right there in front of us and right now it’s booming.

“But, I think this is just the beginning for the whole nation.”

McEwan Says Mark Ewen Is Next Up Out of Scotland

When asked about up-and-coming fighters of Scotland, McEwan gave credit to Mark Ewen and listed the 4-0 fighter as someone to keep an eye on.

He said: “The first person that comes to mind is Mark Ewen, I’ve got so much time for Mark, so much respect for his skill set and I think he’s a very high-level fighter.

“He can’t seem to get a fight because nobody wants to fight him, he’s had four professional fights and when you watch him fight, you watch him perform [you can see] he’s very high level.”