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

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) travels to Manchester, England, for its eighth pay-per-view (PPV) event of the year, UFC 304. In the main event, welterweight champion Leon Edwards defends his 170-pound title for the third time as he takes on second-ranked contender Belal Muhammad. In UFC 304’s co-main event, interim Heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall runs it back against Curtis Blaydes after their first encounter ended in disaster.

UFC 304 is a solid card with several fun fights. The atmosphere should be incredible even though the local fans will watch mixed martial arts (MMA) fights in the middle of the night (details here). Nevertheless, before it all goes down later this evening (Sat., July 27, 2024) — start time slated for 6:15 p.m. ET on ESPN+ — let’s checkout some random storylines, tidbits and statistics ahead of showtime.

‘Cottonopolis’

Did you know Manchester once produced 32 percent of all global cotton?

After staging untold events in London, UFC returns to Manchester for the first time since 2016, in which Michael Bisping headlined against fierce rival, Dan Henderson, at UFC 204. Bisping won the fight via unanimous decision.

Bonus fact: Edwards competed on UFC 204’s “Prelims” undercard against Albert Tumenov, winning via third round submission.

Night Hawks

The main card fighters on UFC 304 will be fighting at a strange time … at least in terms of professional sports. Indeed, UFC 304’s PPV starts at 10 p.m. ET, which is 3 a.m. local time in England, which has angered several combatants.

So for Edwards, he will defend his welterweight championship at 5 a.m. local time.

Injury Title Rematches

Both title fights this weekend are rematches, and weirdly enough, they both ended in injuries the first time — Aspinall destroyed his knee, while Muhammad got his eye poked severely (watch it happen) … more on these in a little.

Win Streaks On The Line

“Edwards vs. Belal 2” will be only the fourth time that fighters with 10+ unbeaten streaks will fight. Edwards is riding a 12-fight win streak, while Muhammad is on a 10-fight win streak (technically nine because of the “no-contest” when they fought the first time).

Gotta Go!

Someone’s three must go this weekend in the main event — Edwards’ record is 22-3 and Muhammad’s record is 23-3.

Three Years

Three years ago at UFC Vegas 21 (March 21, 2021), Muhammad stepped up on short notice to fight Edwards after Khamzat Chimaev pulled out two times. The fight only lasted a little more than one round as Edwards poked Muhammad in the eye 18 seconds into the second round, ending the match via “no-contest.”

The rematch was never booked, and 1,221 days later, they run it back later tonight.

One Chance

“Remember the Name” has scratched and clawed his way to a long-awaited welterweight title shot … and it will probably be his only opportunity ever.

That’s because it feels like UFC tried to avoid this title fight for as long as possible, but at this point, it was unavoidable. Muhammad has to win the title, or he will be the Welterweight gatekeeper for the rest of his career. He isn’t a spring chicken, either, at 36 years old.

Certified Main Eventer

UFC 304 will be Edwards’ fourth straight main event (UFC 228, UFC 286 and UFC 296) and seventh main event overall. This weekend will be Muhammad’s third main event.

The Rare Interim

Aspinall defends UFC’s interim Heavyweight championship this weekend, which is actually a rare occurrence. Renan Barao, Andrei Arlovski and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira were a few other fighters who had to defend interim titles.

Running It Back

As mentioned before, Aspinall vs. Blaydes is a rematch. The first fight took place in 2022 at UFC London. Aspinall blew out his knee only 15 seconds into the first round, and Blaydes won via technical knockout. Since that fight, “Razor” has gone 1-1, losing to Sergei Pavlovich and Jailton Almeida, while Aspinall has been perfect (2-0), defeating Marcin Tybura and Pavlovich.

Toughest Fight

During UFC 304 media day, Aspinall told the media that Blaydes is his “hardest fight” to date. Stylistically, Blaydes could be a nightmare matchup for Aspinall, especially if the British fighter can’t knock him out.

Title Fight Noob

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

Stand Up Chicago!

Both title challengers are from Chicago. While Blaydes now lives and trains out of Colorado, Muhammad still trains in the “Windy City.”

So Long, Bobby

Bobby Green has legally changed his name to King Green —something he has talked about for more than two years.

Shot At Top 15

Paddy Pimblett, who is fighting Green, will get his shot at the Lightweight Top 15 rankings. Green is currently ranked No. 15

Pimblett is undefeated in UFC and is riding a seven-fight win streak.

Common Opponents

Green and Pimblett have fought the same opponents with different outcomes within the last two years. First, Jared Gordon — Green fought him to a “No Contest” after an accidental head clash (watch it), and Pimblett beat Gordon via super controversial unanimous decision.

Pimblett defeated Tony Ferguson in his last outing via unanimous decision; however, at UFC 291, Green tapped Ferguson out.

Tough Camp

Pimblett revealed during UFC 304 media day that his coaches asked him to withdraw from the fight because of his mental health. “Baddy” obviously decided against that decision and is ready to go this weekend.

Iconic Orange

Pimblett got his wish and will be wearing custom Venom orange shorts. He came up in the regional promotion Cage Warriors wearing orange shorts, but when he got to UFC, they were gone.

Well, they are back!

Middleweight Car Crash

Christian Leeroy Duncan vs. Gregory Rodrigues was moved from the “prelims” to UFC 304’s PPV main card, and the matchmakers know exactly why. Both Middleweight fighters come to bang and have a ton of finishes.

Rodrigues has an 87 percent finish rate with nine knockouts, while Duncan boasts a 90 percent finish rate with eight knockouts. This fight is going to end violently … probably in the first round — don’t blink!

Top 10 Featherweights Clash

Opening up the PPV is a Top 10 Featherweight matchup between Arnold Allen (No. 6) vs. Giga Chikadze (No. 10). Allen is coming off a two-fight losing streak — the first of his career — while Chikadze is coming off a win over Alex Caceres.

A win is crucial for both fighters.

No. 1 Contender Fight On The Prelims??????

For some reason, Muhammad Mokaev vs. Manel Kape got moved from UFC 304’s PPV to the early “Prelims,” which is just utterly confusing because the winner could challenge Alexandre Pantoja for the Flyweight championship. Mokaev is ranked No. 6 in the division, and Kape is No. 8.

Kape is riding a four-fight win streak, and Mokaev is undefeated.

Welcome To UFC!

Only one fighter is making their UFC debut this weekend at UFC 304.

Alice Ardelean (9-5) takes on Shauna Bannon. Ardelean was supposed to compete in this year’s Contender Series, but now she is a UFC fighter. She holds an 88 percent finish rate with four knockouts and four submissions.

Ardelean is not really a good fighter; however, she boasts a gigantic social media following … especially on TikTok. The Romanian-turned-English fighter has more than three million followers on TikTok, a half-million subscribers on Instagram, and over 100,000 likes on OnlyFans.

Eight Days Notice

Jake Hadley is stepping in on eight days’ notice against Caolan Loughran. He will also be fighting up a division at Bantamweight. Loughran was scheduled to fight Ramon Taveras, but an injury scrapped that fight.

Hadley is coming off two losses.

Strawweight Meatball

Molly McCann competes in her second strawweight fight this weekend against Bruna Brasil. McCann was victorious in her first strawweight fight when she made light work of Diana Belbita in the first round.

While it is too early to tell if McCann can shake up the Strawweight division, a dominant win at UFC 304 will keep her momentum going.

UFC 304 Fight Leader

The fighter with the most career fights competing at UFC 304 is Green (48).

UFC 304 Fight Rookie

The fighter with the least amount of career fights competing at UFC 304 is Bannon (6).

UFC 304 Knockout King

The fighter with the most amount of career knockouts competing at UFC 304 is Blaydes (13).

UFC 304 Submission Savant

The fighter with the most amount of career submissions competing at UFC 304 is Daniel Pineda (19).

Winners And Losers

Nineteen fighters are coming off wins, nine are coming off losses

Multi-Divisions

Here are the divisions that will be on display this Saturday:

Two Heavyweight fights
One Light Heavyweight fights
One Middleweight
Three Welterweight fights
One Lightweight fight
One Featherweight fight
One Bantamweight fight
Two Women’s Strawweight fights

Beta Dog

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

For complete UFC 304 results and 360-degree coverage click here.