UFC 304: Fun storylines, must-see fights and … bad blood?

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is heading to Manchester, England for its eighth pay-per-view (PPV) event of the year. UFC 304Welterweight champion in the main event Leon Edwards He will defend his 170-pound title for the third time against the No. 2 ranked challenger. Belal MuhammadIn the main event of UFC 304, the interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall Fight it back Curtis Blaydes After the first encounter It ended in disaster.

UFC 304 is a solid card with some entertaining bouts. The atmosphere should be great Local fans watch a mixed martial arts (MMA) match in the middle of the night.Click here for detailsBut before it all ends later tonight (Saturday, July 27, 2024), The match is scheduled to begin at 6:15 PM ET on ESPN+. — Before the show, check out some stories, trivia and stats.

“Cotton Police”

Did you know that Manchester once produced 32 percent of the world’s cotton?

After hosting a number of events in London, UFC is returning to Manchester for the first time since 2016. Michael Bisping In a match against a formidable opponent, Dan Henderson The bout took place at UFC 204 and Bisping won by unanimous decision.

Bonus info: Edwards on the UFC 204 “Prelims” undercard Albert Tumenovwinning by submission in the third round.

Nighthawks

The main card fighters for UFC 304 will be competing at a strange time, at least for professional sports. In fact, the UFC 304 PPV kicks off at 10pm Eastern time, which is 3am local time in the UK. It angered many fighters..

Edwards will defend his welterweight championship at 5 a.m. local time.

Title rematch due to injury

Both title bouts this weekend are rematches and, oddly enough, both ended up with injuries in their previous bouts: Aspinall with a bad knee injury and Muhammad with a bad poke in the eye.Watch it happen) …more on this later.

A winning streak is at stake

Edwards vs. Belal 2 will be the fourth bout between fighters with 10 or more consecutive wins. Edwards is on a 12-fight winning streak, while Muhammad is on a 10-fight winning streak (ByeThe first time they fought, they said “.

We have to go!

Someone has to win three bouts in this weekend’s main event. Edwards has a 22-3 record, while Muhammad has a 23-3 record.

3 years

Three years ago, at UFC Las Vegas 21 (March 21, 2021), Muhammad stepped up on short notice to fight Edwards. Khamzat Chimaev After two withdrawals, the bout ended after just over one round, with Edwards poking Muhammad in the eye 18 seconds into the second round, resulting in a “no contest.”

No rematch was scheduledAnd now, 1,221 days later, it will air again later tonight.

1 Chance

“Remember the Name” has been working hard to get his long-awaited welterweight title fight… and this may be his only chance.

That’s because it feels like the UFC tried to avoid this title fight. As long as possibleBut at this point, It was inevitable.If Muhammad doesn’t win a title, he’ll be the gatekeeper at welterweight for the rest of his career, and at 36, he’s not getting any younger.

Qualified Main Event Players

UFC 304 marks Edwards’ fourth consecutive main event appearance (UFC 228, UFC 286, UFC 296) and seventh main event appearance overall. This weekend marks Muhammad’s third main event appearance.

Rare intermediate

Aspinall will defend his UFC interim heavyweight title this weekend, which is quite unusual. Renan Barao, Andrei Arlovski and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira There were several other fighters who had to defend their interim titles..

Running back

As mentioned above, Aspinall vs. Blaydes will be a rematch. The first bout took place at UFC London in 2022. Aspinall suffered a knee injury just 15 seconds into the first round, with Blaydes winning by technical knockout. Since that bout, “Razor” is 1-1. Sergey Pavlovich and Jailton AlmeidaMeanwhile, Aspinall has a perfect record (2-0). Martin Tybra And Pavlovich.

The toughest battle

meanwhile UFC 304 Media DayAspinall told the media that the fight against Blaydes is his “toughest fight” to date. Stylistically, the fight against Blaydes could be a nightmare for Aspinall, especially if the British fighter is unable to knock him out.

Title Fight Beginner

Blaydes will be fighting for a UFC title for the first time in his 18-fight career with the UFC.

Stand Up Chicago!

Both title challengers are from Chicago: Blaydes currently lives and trains in Colorado, while Muhammad still trains in the “Windy City.”

Goodbye, Bobby

Bobby Green Legally changed name King Green He’s been talking about this for over two years.

Entering the Top 15

Paddy PimblettHe’ll be challenging for a top 15 ranking in the lightweight division when he fights Green, who is currently ranked 15th.

Pimblett is undefeated in the UFC and is on a seven-fight winning streak.

A common enemy

Green and Pimblett have faced the same opponents over the past two years with different results. Jared Gordon — Green fought him to a “no contest” after an accidental head clash.look), and Pimblett defeated Gordon by a highly controversial unanimous decision.

Pimblett is defeated Tony Ferguson They last fought via unanimous decision, but Green ended up tapping out Ferguson at UFC 291.

Tough camp

Pimbret revealed at UFC 304 media day that his coach told him to pull out of the fight. For mental health reasons“Buddy” has apparently overruled that decision and is ready to leave this weekend.

Iconic Orange

Pimblett got his wish and will be wearing custom Venom orange shorts, as he had worn them for regional promotion Cage Warriors but lost them when he arrived at UFC.

Well, they’re back!

Middleweight car accident

Christian Leeroy Duncan versus Gregory Rodriguez has been moved from the “prelims” to the PPV main card at UFC 304, and matchmakers know exactly why: both middleweight fighters will be fighting hard and featuring plenty of finishes.

Rodriguez boasts an 87 percent finishing rate with 9 knockouts and Duncan boasts a 90 percent finishing rate with 8 knockouts. This fight will come to an explosive end…likely in the first round. Keep your eyes peeled!

Top 10 Featherweight Showdown

The PPV will open with a top 10 featherweight bout. Arnold Allen (6th) vs. Giga Chikaze (10th place). Allen is on a two-fight losing streak for the first time in his career, while Chikadze is Alex Caceres.

The win is crucial for both fighters.

No.1 candidates will battle it out in the preliminaries ??????

with some reason, Muhammad Mokaev versus Manel Cape It was moved from the UFC 304 PPV to early “prelims,” ​​which is totally confusing since the winner can still challenge Alexandre Pantoja Flyweight Championship. Mokaev is ranked 6th in the division, while Kape is ranked 8th.

Kape is on a four-fight winning streak, while Mokaev is undefeated.

Welcome to UFC!

Only one fighter will be making his UFC debut at UFC 304 this weekend.

Alice Adelien (9-5) is Shauna BannonArdelean is this year’s Contender SeriesBut now he’s a UFC fighter with four knockouts and four submissions, boasting an 88 percent finishing rate.

Alderian is not a particularly good warrior, She boasts a huge following on social media. …and he’s especially popular on TikTok, where the Romanian-turned-British fighter has more than 3 million followers, 500,000 subscribers on Instagram, and over 100,000 likes on OnlyFans.

8 Days Notice

Jake Hadley Intervene after eight days’ notice Caolan LafranHe will also be moving up to bantamweight. Ramon TaverasHowever, the match was cancelled due to an injury.

Hadley just suffered two losses.

Strawweight Meatballs

Molly McCann This weekend she will compete in her second strawweight bout. Bruna BrazilThis was McCann’s first strawweight bout. Diana Belvita In the first round.

It remains to be seen whether McCann can revolutionize the strawweight division, but a dominant win at UFC 304 would keep her momentum going.

UFC 304 Fight Leader

Green is the fighter who has competed in the most fights of his career at UFC 304. (48)

UFC 304 Fight Rookie

Coming into UFC 304, the fighter with the fewest career fights is Bannon (6).

UFC 304 Knockout King

Of all the fighters competing at UFC 304, Blaydes (13) has the most career knockouts.

UFC 304 Submission Masters

Which fighter had the most submissions at UFC 304? Daniel Pineda (19).

Winners and Losers

Nineteen fighters won and nine lost.

Multiple divisions

The categories on display this Saturday are:

• Two heavyweight bouts
• Light heavyweight bout
• Middleweight
• 3 welterweight bouts
• Lightweight bout
• 1 Featherweight bout
• 1 bantamweight bout
• Women’s strawweight 2 bouts

Beta Dog

According to DraftKings, the “biggest” underdog at UFC 304 is Kiefer Crosby in +330.

Click here for complete results and 360-degree footage from UFC 304 here.