The UFC heads to Manchester, England with the UFC 304 pay-per-view event taking place at the Co-Op Live. The card features a welterweight title headliner as current champion Leon Edwards looks for his third title defense in a rematch against the red-hot Belal Muhammad. The co-main event, meanwhile, is an interim heavyweight title fight between current holder Tom Aspinall and Curtis Blaydes.
If you are in Europe, get ready for this one. The event starts at 10pm local time and the main card kicking-off at 3am in the early hours Sunday morning. Here is what you have to look forward to!
UFC 304 Prelim Card
Women's strawweights kick off the action as Shauna Bannon faces Alice Ardelean. It’s a tight one, but Ireland’s Bannon should edge out this contest.
Mick Parkin battles Lukasz Brzeski in a heavyweight encounter. Parkin should get the W and third in a row. Should be a high-paced bout, and always fun to watch the big men throw hands.
Sam Patterson meets Kiefer Crosbie in a welterweight tilt. Patterson is the overwhelming favorite to get the victory.
Muhammad Mokaev takes on Manel Kape in a highly intriguing flyweight contest. This should be very competitive, but oddsmakers are siding with Mokaev to just about come out on top and make some noise as he hunts the road to a title shot. Kape has the advantage on the feet, and this is one to watch!
Oban Elliott collides with Preston Parsons in a welterweight bout. This is another close fight, and “The Welsh Gangster” will have the fans behind him as he faces an uphill battle against Parsons.
Light heavyweights are also in action as Modestas Bukauskas facces Marcin Parachnio. Bukauskas should emerge victorious in this one.
Jake Hadley takes on Caolan Loughran in a bantamweight matchup. Loughran is expected to get the victory and make it a third straight loss for Hadley.
Fan favorite Molly McMann takes on Bruna Brasil in a women's strawweight fight. “Meatball” McCann will get cheers like no other, and is the heavy favorite and should get the win on home soil.
The featured prelim sees the UK’s Nathaniel Wood battle Daniel Pineda in a bantamweight affair. The “Prospect” is on a 2-fight winning streak, including defeating Andre Fili, and should should get a comfortable victory over the American in this matchup.
UFC 304 Main Card
Allen (19-3) vs Chikadze (15-3)
The main card opens up with an enticing featherweight clash between England’s Arnold Allen and former kickboxing star Giga Chikadze. Allen is enduring the first losing streak of his career after dropping back-to-back decisions to Max Holloway and Movsar Evloev. However, he was 10-0 in the UFC prior to those setbacks as he will look to return to the win column.
Chikadze on the other hand will be looking to enter a winning streak once again. The Georgian earned a decision victory over Alex Caceres last August following an 18-month absence after getting outclassed by Calvin Kattar. Overall, Chikadze is 8-1 in the UFC.
That said, oddsmakers are relatively confident in Allen’s chances to earn the victory in his backyard and put himself back in title contention.
Duncan (10-1) vs Rodrigues (15-5)
Christian Leroy Duncan takes on Gregory Rodrigues in a middleweight fight. Duncan is on a two-fight winning streak and has won three of his four UFC fights overall. His last victory was a TKO over Claudio Ribeiro back in March.
Rodrigues is also on a two-fight winning streak having TKO'd Brad Tavares –no easy feat-- in February earlier this year. Overall, "Robocop" is 6-2 in the UFC. While this should be a close contest, the money seems to be on Duncan edging this one out and continuing his winning streak.
Green (32-15-1, 1NC) vs Pimblett (21-3)
Arguably the most anticipated fight on the card is a lightweight encounter between Bobby Green and Paddy Pimblett. Green has enjoyed a career renaissance of late with three wins in his last four fights at the age of 37 -- the most impressive being a knockout win over Grant Dawson in October last year. He will look to end the hype of another young lightweight in the form of Pimblett next.
The Liverpool native remains undefeated in the UFC with a 5-0 record. However, his last two wins have been far from impressive. Many felt he should have lost to Jared Gordon and although he did beat an aging Tony Ferguson on the scorecards, it was not a good performance by any means.
That is partly why Green is just the slightest of favorites to come out on top in this battle. The American will have a quickness advantage on the feet, but I like Paddy the Baddy to get a few take-downs and control at least two rounds for the slight upset.
Aspinall (14-3) vs Blaydes (18-4, 1NC)
The co-main event features a massive interim heavyweight title fight as current interim champion Tom Aspinall faces Curtis Blaydes. Although Aspinall would have liked to have faced undisputed champion Jon Jones in a title unification fight, that will have to wait for the time being as the UFC still plans on having Jones fight Stipe Miocic. It’s not all bad news as many see him as the champion already, and he’ll have a chance to avenge his only loss in the UFC.
The Englishman is 8-1 in the UFC but suffered a knee injury when he fought Blaydes in July 2022. He would return with a bang by TKOing Marcin Tybura and then knocking out Sergei Pavlovich in November to become the interim champion.
Blaydes would lose to Pavlovich following his win over Aspinall, but returned to winning ways with a knockout win over Jailton Almeida in March earlier this year. Overall, the American has won four of his last five as well as nine of his last 10.Aspinall has just looked better and better, and I think he gets it done early with KO in Manchester.
Edwards (22-3, 1NC) vs Muhammad (23-3, 1NC)
The headliner sees another rematch as welterweight champion Leon Edwards defends his crown against Belal Muhammad. The duo famously fought in March 2021 where Muhammad stepped up on short notice to replace Tyron Woodley. Unfortunately, the fight ended in a no contest when Edwards poked Muhammad’s eye.
Edwards would go on to defeat Nate Diaz before knocking out Kamaru Usman to become the new 170-pound king. He would defend the belt with a majority decision against Usman before outpointing Colby Covington this past December.
Muhammad has also remained undefeated since his meeting with Edwards. The 36-year-old has defeated the likes of Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque, Sean Brady and most recently, Gilbert Burns. Overall, Muhammad has won nine of his last 10 with the only fight he didn’t win being the no contest with Edwards.
But despite his winning run, oddsmakers are still riding with Edwards. “Rocky” was the more aggressive man and was having his way with Muhammad well before the eye poke. With youth on his side as well as home advantage, it’s hard to look past the champion in this affair. I like Leon to get the decision and retain the title.
