The UFC welcomes fighters from all over the world with training facilities available in most major cities. Florida is home to some of the world’s top MMA gyms including MMA Masters, Sanford MMA, and American Top Team.
This means that Floridians typically have a great selection of fighters to support across weight divisions in men’s and women’s MMA. Supporters can explore the best sites for online sports betting in Florida to back their top fighters, including those listed below.
One of the top Florida fighters in the UFC is Jorge Masvidal who was born in Miami in 1984. Masvidal is of Cuban and Peruvian descent and he started his fighting career on the streets.
After competing in Bellator and Strikeforce, he made his UFC debut in 2013 where he beat Tim Mearns. He typically fights in the welterweight or lightweight divisions and he currently holds the record for the quickest knockout in UFC history when a flying knee took out Ben Askgren in 5 seconds.
Masvidal retired in April of 2023 following a defeat to Gilbert Burns, but he remains one of the top Florida fighters to date.
Nina Nunes comes from Weston, Florida, and fought in the strawweight and flyweight divisions between 2013 and 2022. Formerly Nina Ansaroff, she took the name ‘Nunes’ after marrying the greatest female UFC fighter of all time, Amanda Nunes.
Nina Nunes trained out of Florida’s American Top Team gym and was recognized for her Taekwondo and BJJ skills. She announced her retirement from the sport in 2022 following a split-decision victory over Cynthia Calvillo.
Another formidable fighter hailing from Immokalee, Florida is Ovince Saint Preux, otherwise known as OSP. OSP has featured in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions and, like Masvidal, made his UFC debut in 2013.
At 40 years of age, OSP is nearing the end of his career but will want to go out on a positive note following his return from a ban for testing positive for Dehydroandrosterone.
Miguel Baeza’s route into the UFC came via Dana White’s Contender Series. After defeating Victor Reyna he was offered a contract and has gone on to win 10 of his 13 bouts.
Ben Saunders is another UFC fighter who enjoyed a successful spell on TV in the sixth season of The Ultimate Fighter. He is known for being one of the tallest welterweight competitors at 6ft 3″, four inches taller than the average for this weight division.
He has enjoyed two spells with the UFC and ‘Killa B’ as he is also known as a skilled Jiu-Jitsu and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter.
Other notable fighters to have featured on The Ultimate Fighter include Alex Caceres and Mike Rio. Both fighters come from Miami with Rio’s short UFC career ending in 2014.
Alex Caceres has enjoyed a much longer UFC career, making his debut in 2011 and fighting under the bantamweight, featherweight, and lightweight divisions. 21 wins from 36 fights is a decent record for this veteran of the circuit.
