Dana White has famously called mixed martial arts the “fastest growing sport in the world” on numerous occasions.

With the ever-increasing popularity of the UFC and the countless promotions cropping up across the globe hoping to emulate the biggest brand in the business, the boisterous UFC President could certainly be right.

What makes the assertion even more impressive is that in all reality, the sport is still in the infancy stage, and as it continues to grow outside of North America, mixed martial arts has the potential to become a truly global phenomenon that rivals soccer.

If you think I’m exaggerating, take a look at the number of British fighters competing this weekend at UFC 120.

Four of the five main card bouts feature a Brit, and the lone bout which doesn’t contain a British national involves Cheick Kongo, a French heavyweight who trains with one of England’s premier teams at Wolfslair Academy. On the preliminary portion of the event, four more Britons are competing, bringing the event total to eight.

In addition to the quintet of countrymen fighting on this card, the UFC ranks contain a number of other quality British fighters, and there are others still who compete outside of the organization. While some have been competing long-term, a great number of the British Invasion of fighters have come to the sport in recent years, after Michael Bisping began showing young British fighters that mixed martial arts was an option and competing at the highest level was an attainable goal.

That’s not to say that every emerging British talent got into the sport because of the success of the UFC 120 headliner; that would be too broad a generalization, but it is not entirely false either. Part of what draws young people to participate in a sport is the ability to watch an athlete that you identify with.

Following the TUF 1 boom, Bisping was the first British fighter to become a bona fide star, thereby giving young British martial artists someone to draw inspiration from. Since then, guys like Dan Hardy and emerging star John Hathaway have come along to further illustrate the opportunity that exists for talented Brits.

Here’s where it goes global: that connection and opportunity already exists for fighters from numerous countries, and it is going to increase exponentially as the UFC and mixed martial arts in general continues to expand and grow in popularity around the world.

This weekend at UFC 120, eight different countries are represented amongst the 22 competitors taking part in the festivities Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London. In addition to the eight Brits, this card boasts five Americans, two fighters from France, Canada and Brazil, and one from Korea, Sweden and Bulgaria.

Just as a bunch of young Canadians decided to pick up a basketball when they saw Steve Nash holding up the Maurice Podoloff Trophy back-to-back years, fighters like Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Newton before him served as inspiration to the legions of young martial artists looking to earn a living in the cage.

While countries like the Brazil, Japan and the U.S. have an abundance of MMA athletes for fans and future hopefuls to identify with, as the sport continues to expand and fighters from countries that are not currently as represented emerge, those nations have the potential to become hotbeds of mixed martial arts activity and appreciation.

To the North American sporting audience, the sport is always going to be behind long-standing traditions like football, baseball and basketball, with hockey having a stranglehold on things North of the Border. But outside of the big four, it’s not inconceivable to think that MMA could, at the very least, compete with the likes of golf and tennis, if it hasn’t overtaken them already.

When you apply that same thinking to the world at large, the only sport that truly exists and is followed passionately at all points in between is soccer. While every area has additional sports that thrive to varying degrees, soccer is the one sport that connects in almost every market. Mixed martial arts could conceivably be the second.

It’s not really that radical of an idea, is it?

The sport isn’t contingent on climate or affluence.

You don’t need any particular equipment or venue to train.

There are fighters from hundreds of countries represented at various levels of competition across the sport, with a very diverse collection considered amongst the best in the business.

Though there are still countries who cannot boast a recognizable fighters amongst their ranks, the number of countries in that category continues to dwindle, and will keep doing so as the sport’s popularity and participation continues to spread across the globe.

Mixed martial arts may very-well be “the fastest growing sport in the world” as Dana White says, but he’s right about something else too.

This sport hasn’t even come close to reaching its peak.

We’re still in the infancy stage.

Give it another ten years; our teenage years are going to be incredible.