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UFC 304 marked the promotion’s return to Manchester and debut in the Co-op Live headlined by the rematch between welterweight champion Leon Edwards and top contender Belal Muhammad. As a Birmingham resident, Edwards was one of 13 fighters with local ties competing on the card.
The co-main event featured a championship rematch as well with interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall defending his title in the co-main event against Curtis Blaydes. In total, 13 of the 14 fights on the card featured a British representative.
UFC 304: Belal Muhammad Dominates Leon Edwards
10 IN A ROW FOR @BullyB170
Belal Muhammad in the new KING
#UFC304 pic.twitter.com/4Ne8E7qYfM
— UFC (@ufc) July 28, 2024
Though almost nobody gave Muhammad a chance in his first welterweight title fight against Edwards, the fight was nearly a masterclass in favor of the challenger. Muhammad landed over 100 more total strikes than ‘Rocky’ while landing nine takedowns to control the former champion for over 12 minutes.
Most impressively, Muhammad dominated every striking exchange with Edwards, consistently pushing the champion back against the fence and showing off superior boxing. Edwards had no room to get into any rhythm and could not find any consistent offense outside of maintaining back control in the third round and landing one big elbow in the final 30 seconds.
After the defeat, Edwards admitted that the timing of the event caused him to be “tired” as the fight occurred at roughly 5:30 a.m. locally to cater to the American audience. The Jamaica native told Daniel Cormier that he wants to get back into the cage before the end of the year and desires a trilogy fight with Muhammad in the future.
UFC 304: Tom Aspinall Knocks Out Curtis Blaydes
While Edwards could not defend his belt in the United Kingdom, Aspinall was able to please the fans in the co-main event. Entering July 27, Aspinall already owned the UFC record for the shortest average fight time and only saw that number go down in his first interim title defense against Blaydes. The matchup was expected to be the toughest for the 31-year-old in the division but ended in just one minute with another first-round knockout.
As he mentioned in his post-fight interview, the win allowed Aspinall to face some of his inner fears as Blaydes remains the only fighter who owns a win over him in the UFC. The “win” was not a legitimate one with Aspinall tearing his MCL 15 seconds into the fight in 2o22 but halted most of his momentum.
After the win, Aspinall called out undisputed champion Jon Jones to unify the belts presumably after he faces former titleholder Stipe Miocic later in 2024. Jones did not offer any response on social media but has previously repeated his disinterest in the matchup.
UFC 304 Full Card Results
View the results for every fight on UFC 304 below:
Main card
(C) Belal Muhammad def. Leon Edwards by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47), for the UFC welterweight championship
(IC) Tom Aspinall def. Curtis Blaydes by KO in round one (1:00), for the UFC interim heavyweight championship
Paddy Pimblett def. King Green by submission in round one (3:22)
Gregory Rodrigues def. Christian Leroy Duncan by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Arnold Allen def. Giga Chikadze by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary card
Nathaniel Wood def. Daniel Pineda by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-28)
Bruna Brasil def. Molly McCann by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Jake Hadley def. Caolan Loughran by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Muhammad Mokaev def. Manel Kape by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Early Prelims
Oban Elliott def. Preston Parsons by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Modestas Bukauskas def. Marcin Prachnio by submission in round three (3:12)
Sam Patterson def. Kiefer Crosbie by submission in round one (2:50)
Mick Parkin def. Lukasz Brzeski by TKO in round one (3:23)
Shauna Bannon def. Alice Ardelean by split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29)
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