UFC 304 Review: Statements Made In Manchester
Seven years ago, hometown hero Michael Bisping defended his belt against Dan Henderson, cementing his legacy as the greatest British UFC fighter to step foot inside the octagon. Earlier that night, baby-faced Leon Edwards defeated Albert Tumenov to claim his fourth win in the UFC.
Nine straight wins and a hundred UFC events later, Leon Edwards returned to Manchester as the welterweight champion, hoping to defend his belt against a familiar opponent in Belal Muhammad.
Edwards (Left) and Muhammad (Right) at the UFC 304 pre-fight press conference.
What came next was not in the script.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, Belal Muhammad silenced the sleep-deprived Manchester crowd by dominating Leon Edwards to become the new king of the welterweight division.
In the co-main event, Tom Aspinall destroyed Curtis Blaydes with a signature knockout win in 60 seconds, setting up a historic fight against either Jon Jones or Stipe Miocic.
Hot prospect Paddy Pimblett proved he is a legitimate contender in the 155-pound division with a statement submission victory over King Green.
Belal Muhammad realised his dream of UFC gold with a dominant victory over Britain’s Leon Edwards, ending the 32-year-old’s 12-fight win streak.
Muhammad becoming the new welterweight champion.
Muhammad controlled Edwards with his suffocating wrestling, clasping his hands and slamming Edwards to the ground round after round. Muhammad’s wrestling stifled any forward pressure from Edwards on the feet, with many accrediting the high-level wrestling to the training Muhammad had done with Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The win came just three years after the pair’s first fight inside the octagon. In controversial circumstances, the fight was stopped and deemed a no contest due to an accidental eye poke from the former champion. With many having Edwards ahead on the scorecards in the first bout, fans believed Edwards would pick up where he left off and retain his belt.
The referee stopping the pair’s first fight back in 2021.
Edwards downplayed any potential upset, claiming pre-fight, “I am levels above.”
Muhammad believed that since their first fight, Edwards had disrespected and overlooked the American, which led to him becoming hostile towards the Englishman, saying he ‘hated’ Edwards.
As fans supported their British champion by booing the challenger, Muhammad seemed unfazed, playing into the villain role and making a cheeky claim that “England are going to lose again,” in reference to England’s European Championship final loss to Spain just two weeks prior.
The final words from @Leon_edwardsmma and @bullyb170 🫣
#UFC304 | July 27th | LIVE on TNT Sports and discovery+ pic.twitter.com/ggUo2YRZ9Q
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) July 26, 2024
Credit: @ufcontnt.
Muhammad certainly didn’t buckle under the pressure and put in a masterful display.
In the build-up to the event, many UK fans and fighters criticized the UFC for putting the event on at such a late local time, with questions over how this might affect the fighters’ performances.
There is no doubt this played a part in the main event, with Edwards saying in his post-fight interview,
“My body felt tired.”
Credit: UFC.
In the co-main event, Tom Aspinall retained his Interim Heavyweight Championship and proved once again why he is the best heavyweight in the world. From the walkout to the finish, it was a Tom Aspinall masterclass.
In a signature Aspinall performance, he made light work of his opponent.
The first big shot Aspinall landed put Curtis Blaydes down. Sensing the end, the champion rushed in and landed heavy ground-and-pound shots, leaving referee Marc Goddard no choice but to stop the fight. Many believed this would be Aspinall’s toughest opponent to date, considering Blaydes is known for his dominating wrestling and recently developed dangerous power in his striking.
Aspinall moments before the referee’s stoppage.
Similarly to the main event, this was a rematch. In 2022, their first bout ended in just 15 seconds as Aspinall had to withdraw from the fight due to a serious knee injury, the only loss of his UFC career. Aspinall sought to “take care of unfinished business,” and he certainly did that.
This was Aspinall’s first defence as interim champ, as questions remain over the health of current heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who is set to fight Stipe Miocic later this year. Jones is considered the greatest UFC fighter of all time, but that doesn’t mean he’s unbeatable.
Here’s where the problem lies.
Many fans recognise that Dana White and the UFC are protecting Jones, making his move to heavyweight as smooth as possible. With a debut fight against Ciryl Gane, who was stylistically perfect for Jones, and now a scheduled fight against 41-year-old Stipe Miocic, who’s last fight was over three years ago in which he was knocked out by Francis Ngannou who no longer competes in the UFC.
Miocic after being knocked-out by Ngannou at UFC 260.
Additionally, the constant mention of Jones as the number one in the pound-for-pound list by Dana White is ridiculous, considering Jones himself has had one fight in four years.This is clear evidence that Jones is receiving special treatment for reasons that remain unclear.
Dana White praising Jones at the UFC 302 post-fight press conference.
Credit: MMA Crazy.
Considering this will likely be Miocic’s retirement fight, I don’t mind the fight happening if it then leads to a Jones vs. Aspinall fight.
However Jones will gain no credibility by beating Miocic.
I believe Aspinall has now put himself in a position where he cannot be ignored, and for the first time post-fight, he publicly called out Jones.
Aspinall’s Post fight interview.
Credit: UFC
Aspinall is showing Jones no fear, something we haven’t seen from a challenger in a long time. If Jones wins against Miocic, the UFC could set up the greatest heavyweight fight of all time. However, if they don’t make the fight, they will have failed as competent matchmakers, making Jones’ stint as a heavyweight insignificant to UFC fans.
Until then, there’s only one true king that wears the heavyweight crown, and his name is Tom Aspinall.
After seven straight decisions, as the clock struck 4:30 am, someone needed to wake the UK crowd up.
Enter Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett.
Pimblett dancing his way into the Octagon before his bout with Green.
Many fans believed that Pimblett’s recent performances had exposed holes in his game and that the hype train was quickly derailing. A win against the 15th-ranked lightweight King Green would place Pimblett amongst the rankings, a feat many believed wasn’t possible for the brash Scouser.
This was sink or swim for Pimblett.
After some tense striking exchanges, King Green foolishly dove for a takedown against Pimblett, who is a jiu-jitsu specialist. Before Green could comprehend what was happening, the Liverpudlian had the American deep in a guillotine choke, impressively switching to an armbar, putting Green in all sorts of trouble. Unable to tap, the ref stopped the fight.
With the crowd now very much awake, the same couldn’t be said about Green, who was now slumped unconscious on the octagon floor.
Pimblett celebrating after just submitting Green.
Pimblett had laid down a marker, proving to all the critics and the rest of the lightweight division that he is to be taken seriously.
This was the first time in 26 UFC fights that King Green had been submitted, so as Pimblett quite rightly called out in his post-fight interview, “To all the haters, what now?”
A statement made in Manchester.
