5 Things You Might Not Know About Danny Roberts

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A divorce from the Ultimate Fighting Championship allowed Danny Roberts to play the field for the first time in almost a decade, and in stepped the Professional Fighters League.

The 37-year-old Englishman will make his organizational debut against undefeated Belgian prospect Patrick Habirora in the 2025 PFL Europe 2 headliner on Saturday at ING Arena in Brussels, Belgium. Roberts steps back into the spotlight on the heels of a career-worst three-fight losing streak. He has not competed since he succumbed to punches from Jonny Parsons in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 224 confrontation on July 22, 2023.

As Roberts moves ever closer to his upcoming battle with Habirora at 170 pounds, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. He checked the strong-first-impression box.

Roberts made his professional mixed martial arts debut at the age of 23 on Dec. 4, 2010, when he needed just 47 seconds to wipe out Darius Kuncevicius with a knee strike to the body under the Olympian MMA Championships banner. He won 10 of his first 11 bouts on the European regional scene before signing with the UFC.

2. He broke even at the highest level.

“White Chocolate” posted a 7-7 record in the UFC, where he was a three-time “Fight of the Night” winner and pocketed $150,000 in bonuses for those efforts. Roberts secured those seven victories at the expense of Nathan Coy, Dominque Steele, Bobby Nash, Oliver Enkamp, David Zawada, Zelim Imadaev and Ramazan Emeev.

3. Dependability has been a selling point.

Roberts has fought at least once every calendar year since 2010—except for 2020, which was kneecapped by the coronavirus pandemic, and 2024, which saw the UFC choose to keep him under contract but inactive. He fought six times in 2011 alone.

4. His travels have taken him near and far.

The Team McHale product has suited up in seven different countries. In addition to his native England, Roberts has seen action in Wales, the United States, Scotland, Canada, Germany and Russia.

5. Judges tend to admire his work.

Roberts has gone the distance six times in his 26-fight career and carries a 5-1 mark in those bouts. The lone setback? A May 2022 unanimous decision defeat to former Jungle Fight champion Francisco Trinaldo at UFC 274 in which the Brazilian outstruck him by a 91-44 margin and racked up more than four minutes of control time.