“He has changed our sport” - Stephen Bunting backs Luke Littler to become darts’ GOAT despite Phil Taylor record doubts

Stephen Bunting believes Luke Littler could end his career as the greatest darts player of all time. The 41-year-old Englishman does not expect his compatriot to match Phil Taylor’s enormous title haul, but feels the still only 19-year-old Littler has already had a huge impact on the sport.

Littler made an unprecedented start to 2026. After winning the world title at Alexandra Palace, the world number one went on to win the World Masters, UK Open, Premier League, World Cup of Darts and World Matchplay in succession. His pursuit of a complete collection of major titles in a single year came to an end at the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam, however, where Jonny Clayton knocked him out in the quarter-finals.

That does little to change Bunting’s view of ‘The Nuke’s’ enormous potential. Asked by Sky Sports News whether Littler could eventually become the greatest darts player of all time, he answered in the affirmative.

"I do. I think he's got a lot more to give the sport."

Bunting does not expect Littler to eventually match Taylor’s 16 world titles, however. According to ‘The Bullet’, the standard in modern-day darts is simply too high for that.

"I think he'll win a lot more world titles, but I don't think he'll win as many as Phil," Bunting said. "The standard of play is a lot better than in Phil's day. Phil did dominate. But [Littler] is someone who has changed our sport. He's brought the [age] demographic of the sport down. If you ask people who a darts player is, they all say Luke Littler, that's how powerful his name is."

At the same time, Bunting is reluctant to make a direct comparison between Littler and Taylor. "I think certainly Luke's ceiling is phenomenal," he continued. "Based on his ceiling he is the best player in the world. Phil 'The Power' Taylor won 16 World Championships - you can't take that away from Phil.

"If Phil tells me he's the best darts player in the world, he's the best darts player in the world. I'll leave it for them to discuss. I'd be happy to win one or two world titles, but Luke is smashing it already.

"He's playing fantastic, won another European Tour, so he's pretty unstoppable. But there's a couple of players behind him who can also have high ceilings as well, so on the day, who knows what can happen."

During the Love The Darts podcast, Bunting also discussed the treatment Littler received at the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam. The world champion was subjected to boos and whistles from sections of the crowd.

Bunting knows from personal experience how much a particularly loud whistle can affect a player. "A loud whistle really does throw you off and I've had it in my career. It's not nice and it's off-putting when you're throwing for a double," said Bunting. "It's the minority."

Bunting, meanwhile, is turning his attention to the World Grand Prix. He has previously reached the semi-finals twice and hopes to go one step further this time.

"Definitely," Bunting said when asked if he can win the title in Leicester. "Hopefully I can go in with some really good form, these next few tournaments push me there with some confidence.

"The Grand Prix is a double-off format, I really enjoy hitting my doubles. It's going to be a great tournament. It's brilliant Sky Sports covers it and hopefully I can put on a good show for the fans and get the title."

Bunting has also made a change to his walk-on. He has moved away from his old association with Peter Griffin and Bird is the Word, and now walks on to Titanium, a choice partly inspired by his son.

"My son's favourite song," Bunting said when asked about his song change. "It was an easy one to pick. I wanted to get away from the Peter Griffin and the 'Bird is the Word' song. Everyone's been really positive towards it.

"It's one of the greatest walk-on songs in my opinion. It's really a special moment when I'm doing the actions and they're singing it back to me. It makes me feel so happy. Obviously, we're up there to do a job and play darts, but the walk-on and the crowd takes the pressure away and it relaxes me when I've done the walk-on.

"When the crowd are singing 'let's go Bunting-mental', they really are my 12th man. To be able to use the crowd as a power, it's really important, they're a huge part of my game and it's nice to be able to give something back to them."

Bunting also spoke to Sky Sports News about his new autobiography, Bulletproof. The title refers to a lyric from Titanium and his nickname ‘The Bullet’, but also symbolises the difficult periods he has gone through during his career.

"Sometimes it can be really difficult," Bunting admitted when asked about the hate he can receive on social media. "I'm lucky I've got a great team around me, a brilliant family and some unbelievable fans and they've really helped me through a little bit of a dark time."

In his book, Bunting also discusses his gambling debts.

"It was important to show everyone, this was a life story, so, everything needs to be in there," he said. "The gambling debts were a big part of my life.

"When times were low, I'd lock myself away, and I'd be on my phone gambling. It was a horrible place to be in. I was in a rut and thankfully, sports psychologist, hypnotist and everything about that really helped me and helped me look at it in a positive way, even though somethings may not be positive, still taking a positive spin on it.

"Gambling was a way out at the time but I was able to put that to bed and if one little bit out of this book can help anyone in this situation, the book's a winner."