Does the "traditional" route damage our fighters?

does taking the route of english/commonweatlh/british/euro level take too long and deny some fighters some valuable experience of taking part in contests against different styles of fighters? Because let's face it, as good as the british scene is, there aren't too many different styles to come up against. Groves going to fight in america a couple of times is a good example of someone getting a different angle and experience of different styles. Or does going the traditional route give fighters time to find out who they are as a fighter and what their strengths are before making a step up?

I've never been able to decide. But you hear a lot of pro's saying they prefer the traditional route if they can take it.

Does taking the traditional route really prepare our fighters for the best is what i suppose i'm really asking?