9. Liam McGeary
McGeary is often overlooked when talking about notable British fighters, so it's nice to see him come in at ninth. You might expect a 6-foot-6, athletic, British light heavyweight to be a kickboxer, but McGeary was in fact far more of a grappler, though he could strike well enough. Despite having his first MMA fight at the relatively advanced age of 27, McGeary began with a perfect 11-0 record that saw him become the Bellator light heavyweight champion. In the process, he tapped skilled grappler Kelly Anundson with his signature inverted triangle choke. Anundson, incidentally, had recorded stoppage wins over Philippe Lins and Volkan Oezdemir just a few months before meeting McGeary. McGeary then dethroned the reigning Bellator light heavyweight champion Emanuel Newton over 5 rounds and required less than a round to finish with that same inverted triangle choke against light heavyweight legend Tito Ortiz.
At that point, Bellator saw a huge influx of elite talent in the 205 pound category, and McGeary wasn't able to handle it. McGeary lost his crown in a five-round decision to Phil Davis, then widely considered a Top 5 light heavyweight, and was then tapped himself by brutally strong and dangerous Linton Vassell. It didn't get any easier for McGeary, as he then faced Vadim Nemkov, Sherdog's No. 1 light heavyweight at the time of this writing, being stopped in the third round due to leg kicks. McGeary then knocked out a faded Muhammed Lawal before losing a rematch against Davis due to injury. At the age of 36, McGeary wisely retired. Overall, it had been a fine career; he won a championship and only lost to the very best, beating everyone else, including good opponents like Anundson, Newton and Ortiz.
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