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UFC has produced plenty of bad boys who threw hands outside the octagon, but only one fighter masterminded the largest cash heist in British history while still believing he could return for the championship belt. Meet Lee Murray, the most dangerous man Dana White ever signed.
Lightning Lee Murray - The Biggest Gangster in UFC History
"Lightning" Lee Murray makes every other UFC criminal look like shoplifters. The British-Moroccan middleweight didn't just have anger management issues - he orchestrated a Ā£53 million robbery that reads like a Hollywood script. Born in South London's Plumstead to a British hairdresser and Moroccan kitchen hand, Murray grew up in the criminal breeding ground of Bermondsey. Murray's criminal career started before his fighting fame. Expelled from school, he joined the "Buttmarsh boys" gang and racked up convictions for drug possession, assault, and theft.
But these were warmup acts. His UFC debut against Jorge Rivera showcased a triangle choke that took less than two minutes, and he fought three rounds against Anderson Silva.
The Securitas depot robbery proved Murray's criminal mastermind status. His crew spent months surveilling the facility, using spy cameras, prosthetic disguises, and inside information. They kidnapped the depot manager's family, forced entry with AK-47s and shotguns, and walked away with Ā£53 million in cash. The operation required military-level planning, complete with a "Stopwatch" member timing the heist like Ocean's Eleven.
When police raided storage units afterward, they found millions stashed in shipping containers and garage lock-ups. Murray fled to Morocco, where his dual citizenship protected him from UK extradition, though he still received a 25-year sentence. Even from his Moroccan prison cell, he maintains he'll return to win the UFC championship.
Not Quite, but Close to being a Gangster
Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor talks a big game about gangster connections, but his ties to the Kinahan cartel are probably just family drama (maybe). His sister Aoife's relationship with convicted drug dealer Graham "The Wig" Whelan provides the connection to Daniel Kinahan's organization. Court documents reveal Kinahan allegedly "leaned on" McGregor to walk a boxer to the ring, but this hardly qualifies as criminal activity. McGregor benefits from cartel protection and attends gangland funerals.
The Kinahan cartel itself is legitimately dangerous, responsible for at least 18 murders and controlling international drug trafficking worth ā¬1 billion. But McGregor remains on the periphery, using connections for business opportunities rather than participating in actual crimes. He's gangster-adjacent at best.
Enson Inoue
Enson Inoue represents the closest thing to legitimate organized crime ties without crossing into criminality. The Hawaiian-Japanese fighter openly admits "doing business" with Yakuza members while maintaining he was never a member. Joe Rogan describes Inoue as having "run-ins" with the syndicate and offering to help Dana White with "underworld problems."
Inoue's Yakuza dealings were business arrangements rather than criminal enterprises. When the crime syndicate asked him to open a Purebred gym in Tokyo, he agreed in exchange for them sponsoring two of his fighters. But when a Yakuza member started neglecting his duties, Inoue took him to a parking lot and beat him for 20 minutes, hospitalizing the gangster. This incident showcased Inoue's fearlessness but also demonstrated he was never truly part of their organization - he was an outsider they respected.
Amar Suloev
Amar Suloev transformed from legitimate fighter into alleged contract killer, making him potentially more dangerous than the others. After retiring from MMA in 2008, the Armenian joined a private security company where he met Sergei Zirinov, a Russian legislative assemblyman running a criminal organization. The gang allegedly murdered several businessmen and political figures, with Suloev serving as an enforcer and driver.
Prosecutors charged Suloev with attempted assassination of political rivals, claiming he drove during a botched murder attempt. While awaiting trial, he developed stage four stomach cancer and died in 2016 before his case concluded. Unlike Murray's calculated heists or McGregor's family connections, Suloev's alleged crimes involved political assassinations and contract killing - darker territory than robbery or business deals.
Lee Murray stands alone as the biggest gangster in UFC History because he combined criminal mastermind planning with elite fighting skills. While Suloev allegedly became a hitman after retirement and Inoue maintained business relationships with organized crime, only Murray orchestrated one of history's greatest heists while actively competing at the highest levels of MMA.
Murray's criminal resume includes the largest cash robbery in British peacetime history, multiple assault convictions, drug dealing, and enough street credibility to knock out Tito Ortiz in a London parking lot. Dana White called him "a scary son of a bitch" and admitted the UFC president was genuinely afraid of him. Even imprisoned in Morocco, Murray continues planning his UFC championship comeback, maintaining the delusion that criminal mastermind skills translate to octagon dominance.