Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to the pay-per-view (PPV) market later TONIGHT (Sat., July 27, 2024) on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Co-op Live in Manchester, England. Headlining UFC 304 is a Welterweight title fight between division kingpin, Leon Edwards, and top-ranked contender, Belal Muhammad. In UFC 304’s co-main event, interim Heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall, will defend the strap against Curtis Blaydes, with the winner earning an undisputed title shot next.
What’s Hot:
It took awhile, but Muhammad finally earned his much-desired title fight and rematch against Edwards. The two initially threw down in March 2021, with the fight resulting in a “No Contest” after Muhammad suffered an inadvertent eye poke that left him rendered unable to continue. Three years later, he gets his chance to dethrone “Rocky.” Muhammad is unbeaten in his last 10 fights, while Edwards is perhaps the hottest fighter in the game — next to Alex Pereira — unbeaten in his last 12 fights. But, he’s done so in a subtle manner, not competing for 1.5 years. Now, he is out to remind everyone the reason(s) he is truly one of the best fighters in the world regardless of division.
Muhammad isn’t a pushover, not by a long shot, and their first fight was actually pretty competitive. The problem with “Remember The Name,” however, is that he simply doesn’t have a ton of finishes on his resume, racking up just two during his win streak. To some fight fans, that isn’t appealing, and if you don’t have the fans backing the spotlight will shine elsewhere. That said, Muhammad can turn it all around for himself if he can pull off the huge upset against “Rocky.” To do that, though, he will have to be on his “A” game because Edwards hasn’t shown any glaring weakness in his arsenal. In fact, he has shown to be one of the best in the world and sometimes doesn’t get the credit he truly deserves. If he can take out Muhammad rather convincingly, it will be the start to a potential run that can one day have him compared to the all-time greats Welterweight UFC champions.
What’s Not:
A Middleweight fight between Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Gregory Rodrigues somehow managed to get a spot on UFC 304’s PPV main card and it has me a bit perplexed. Sure, Duncan is 3-1 inside the Octagon and on a two-fight win streak, while “Robo Cop” is 4-1 in his last five inside the Octagon. But, if I’m paying big bucks for a PPV card, I don’t expect to see these two names in the middle of the main card. If it were a “Fight Night” event, I understand, but this a major PPV card. If the point is to sell, you won’t do it with these two names. Manel Kape vs. Muhammad Mokaev seemed like a better fit.
Original Card Vs. Actual Card:
Hecher Sosa withdrew from his scheduled fight against Caolan Loughran for reasons that were not revealed. He was hastily replaced by Jake Hadley, who missed weight by 1.5 pounds, resulting in a 20 percent fine that will go to Loughran. “The Don” is coming off his first UFC win, defeating Angel Pacheco in March of this year. As for Hadley, he is trying to earn a much-needed win after dropping back-to-back fights to Cody Durden and Charles Johnson.
Injuries:
Ravena Oliveira suffered an undisclosed injury that forced her out of her scheduled women’s Bantamweight bout against Shauna Bannon. As a result, she was replaced by UFC newcomer (and TikTok star), Alice Ardelean.
New Blood:
Ardelean — who is best known for her TikTok’s — got an unexpected call up to the big leagues to make her UFC debut on just a few weeks notice. She will take on Shauna Bannon, putting up her five-fight win streak on the line. It’s a win streak she started in 2016, shortly after suffering a submission loss to Weili Zhang on the regional circuit. As for Bannon, she came up short in her own UFC debut, losing to Bruna Brasil, snapping her five-fight win streak. Much was made about Ardelean getting the nod, now she has a chance to prove her doubters wrong on the big stage.
How The ‘Prelims’ Look:
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Muhammad Mokaev and Manel Kape have been at each others’ throats all fight week (literally), since the two men have a hatred that runs deep. They allegedly got into a fist fight earlier this year at UFC’s Performance Institute in Las Vegas, Nevada, and they have been going at it ever since. Earlier this week, they got into yet another brawl when they crossed paths at the fighter hotel. During weigh ins, Mokaev threw a water bottle at Kape, but now it’s time to make it official. Mokaev currently sits at No. 6 on the official rankings and has won all six of his UFC fights, bringing his record to 12-0-1. One more win puts him into the Top 5 and closer to a title shot. As for Kape, after losing his first two fights under UFC’s banner, he turned it around by winning four straight, good enough to put him at No. 8. The former Rizin Bantamweight champion is now eyeing a jump into the Top 5, and a win over Mokaev gets him there. This fight belongs on the main card!
Nathaniel Wood’s three-fight win streak and momentum was snapped after he ran into Muhammad Naimov at UFC 294. It was a huge blow to the British brawler’s hopes of cracking the Top 15, which is something that seemed to be a given for him early on in his UFC career. But, six years in, he has yet to accomplish that feat. Now, he is out to get back into the win column when he battles Daniel Pineda, who is coming off a loss to Alex Caceres. Pineda is a scrappy opponent who, if given the chance, can ruin an opponent’s night in a hurry because all of his 28 wins have come via stoppage.
In Welterweight action, Oban Elliott will take on Preston Parsons. Currently on a six-fight win streak, Elliott won his UFC debut, defeating Valentine Woodburn via unanimous decision. Parson, meanwhile, has alternated wins and losses to the tune of a 2-2 record under the UFC banner. In another 170-pound tilt, Sam Patterson — who is 1-1 under the UFC banner — will take on Kiefer Crosbie, who came up short in his UFC debut by losing to Kevin Jousset with just 11 seconds remaining in the first round back in Sept. 2023.
Molly McCann got back into the win column after picking up a much-needed win over Diana Belbita earlier this year, snapping her two-fight losing streak. McCann has all of the energy in the world, but she can’t seem to control it to her advantage inside the cage (or use it, for that matter). She tends to get a bit overzealous, allowing her foes to use it against her. Her foe, Bruna Brasil, is just 1-2 inside the Octagon, but a win over “Meatball” will be the biggest of her career.
Undefeated Heavyweight prospect (9-0, 3-0 UFC), Mick Parkin, returns to the cage to face off against Lukasz Brzeski. Parkin has five knockouts in his resume, but he has yet to secure one inside the Octagon. That said, Parkin does have heavy hands, and he has shown to have a pretty complete game. As far as Brzeski is concerned, he scored his first win under the UFC banner by defeating Valter Walker via unanimous decision. Prior to that, he had lost all three of his fights inside the Octagon.
Kicking off the event is the long Light Heavyweight matchup as Modestas Bukauskas battles Marcin Prachnio. Bukauskas saw his four-fight win streak go out the window in his most recent fight, losing to Vitor Petrino via knockout in Nov. 2023. Prachnio, meanwhile, has been fighting for the promotion for six years now, but he failed to make much noise, racking up a 4-5 record in the span.
Who Needs A Win Badly:
Arnold Allen had, at one point, won 12 straight, including his first 10 fights inside the Octagon. Along the way, he earned big wins over the likes of Dan Hooker and Calvin Kattar, earning him a big fight against Max Holloway. A win would have earned him a title fight more than likely, instead a loss snapped his win streak that took him eight years to build. After that, he suffered his second straight defeat after running into Movsar Evloev. Now, he is eyeing a potential third straight loss when he goes up against Giga Chikadze, who has won 10 of his last 11 fights. Another loss won’t get Allen cut, but he needs it for his confidence moving forward.
Interest Level: 7/10
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The co-main event features another rematch as Aspinall will face off against Blaydes, putting his interim Heavyweight title on the line in the process. The two men initially threw down back in July 2022 with the fight ending in rather anti-climactic fashion after Aspinall suffered a devastating knee injury seconds into the bout. Since then, he has undergone surgery, came back with a vengeance by securing a first-round knockout win over Marcin Tybura one year later, and followed it up with another first round knockout win over Sergei Pavlovich to win the interim strap. While he was determined to wait for a potential big-money title fight against Jon Jones, that’s a long time to be on the sidelines since “Bones” is in talks to fight Stipe Miocic sometime later this year. For now, he will look to get a win over Blaydes while keeping his interim strap intact.
As for Blaydes, he has gone 1-1 since his initial clash with Aspinall, losing to Sergei Pavlovich before bouncing back with a big knockout win over Jailton Almeida. He obviously wasn’t happy with how his first fight against Aspinall went down, and now is out to secure his first taste of UFC gold, all while stealing Aspinall’s title unification bout. Blaydes has the wrestling advantage here easy, but the towering Brit has some of the fastest hands when it comes to big men. This one could be tricky to predict.
One of the more intriguing non-title fights of the evening is the return of Paddy Pimblett against King Green, who is currently holding down the No. 15 spot. With a record of 3-1 in his last four fights inside the Octagon, King wants to jump up the ladder and get closer to a title shot, which is a long way away. Still, taking out “The Baddy” is a huge step in the right direction. But, it won’t be an easy task because Pimblett — who is currently un-ranked — is out to crash the Top 15 for the first time in his UFC career. He has always talked a good game — even if it’s not against his opponents — and so far he has backed it up, going perfect (5-0) inside the Octagon, improving his win streak to seven in a row. But, a win over Green is what will get him over the hump and into the Top 15 ... maybe even the Top 10. This will undoubtedly be “The Baddy’s” biggest test to date, now it’s time to see if he can deliver seeing as how Green has a built-in advantage.
Enjoy the fights!
Full UFC 304 Fight Card:
UFC 304 Main Event On ESPN+ PPV:
170 lbs.: UFC Welterweight champion Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad 2
UFC 304 Co-Main Event On ESPN+ PPV:
265 lbs.: UFC Interim Heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes 2
UFC 304 Main Card On ESPN+ PPV (10 p.m. ET):
155 lbs.: Bobby Green vs. Paddy Pimblett
185 lbs.: Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Gregory Rodrigues
145 lbs.: Arnold Allen vs. Giga Chikadze
UFC 304 ‘Prelims’ Card On ESPN2, ESPN+ (8 p.m. ET):
125 lbs.: Muhammad Mokaev vs. Manel Kape
145 lbs.: Nathaniel Wood vs. Daniel Pineda
115 lbs.: Bruna Brasil vs. Molly McCann
135 lbs.: Caolan Loughran vs. Jake Hadley
UFC 304 Early ‘Prelims’ Card On ESPN+ (6 p.m. ET):
265 lbs.: Mick Parkin vs. Lukasz Brzeski
170 lbs.: Oban Elliott vs. Preston Parsons
170 lbs.: Sam Patterson vs. Kiefer Crosbie
135 lbs.: Shauna Bannon vs. Alice Ardelean
205 lbs.: Modestas Bukauskas vs. Marcin Prachnio
*Fight card, bout order and number of fights remain subject to change.*
Boxebet will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 304 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN2/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 304: “Edwards vs. Muhammad 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
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