Rematches will rule the night at UFC 304. On Saturday in Manchester, England, Leon Edwards will defend his UFC welterweight title against Belal Muhammad in the main event.
UFC 304 marks the promotion’s first show in the United Kingdom since July 2023. Tom Aspinall will defend his UFC interim heavyweight title against Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event.
Here’s a look at the entire card, the start time, and viewing information.
MAIN CARD (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET)
- (c) Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad – UFC Welterweight Championship
- (c) Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes – UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship
- King Green vs. Paddy Pimblett
- Christopher Leroy Duncan vs. Gregory Rodrigues
- Arnold Allen vs. Giga Chikadze
PRELIMS (ESPN2/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET)
- Nathaniel Wood vs. Daniel Pineda
- Molly McCann vs. Bruna Brasil
- Jake Hadley vs. Caolan Loughran
- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Marcin Prachnio
EARLY PRELIMS (ESPN2/ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET)
- Oban Elliott vs. Preston Parsons
- Muhammad Mokaev vs. Manel Kape
- Sam Patterson vs. Kiefer Crosbie
- Mick Parkin vs. Lukasz Brzeski
- Shauna Bannon vs. Alice Ardelean
Aspinall-Blaydes 2
Back in his home country, defending his interim title, Aspinall would’ve preferred to face Jon Jones for the undisputed title or even Ciryl Gane to raise his status in the division.
Instead, Aspinall runs it back with Blaydes, a man he lost to back in July 2022 when he suffered a severe knee injury just 15 seconds into the fight. In eight bouts with the promotion, it is still Aspinall’s only loss in the UFC. He has since gone on to Marcin Tybura in July 2023 and Sergei Pavlovich in November 2023.
The latter earned him the interim heavyweight title.
After an unsuccessful attempt to lure Jones into a fight with him for the undisputed heavyweight crown, Aspinall settled for a rematch with Blaydes and an opportunity to right a wrong in his career.
Blaydes has been a serious title contender for the past four years in the UFC’s heavyweight division. Despite sharing the Octagon with some of the best, like Francis Ngannou (twice), Derrick Lewis, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, and Alexander Volkov, Saturday’s co-main event will be Blaydes’ first shot at UFC gold of any kind.
He’s coming off a TKO win over Jailton Almeida in March 2024. Almeida dominated the entire first round, but he made a tactical error during a takedown, leaving himself open to a series of hammer fists, which led to Blaydes’ comeback win.
The first fight with Aspinall only lasted 15 seconds, but the early moments suggest Blaydes could pose Aspinall a threat. We’ll find out which heavyweight is better in the co-main event.
Edwards-Muhammad II
Much like the first Aspinall-Blaydes fight, the initial meeting between Edwards and Muhammad in March 2021 ended prematurely.
Edwards had soundly won the first round with his superior striking, but 18 seconds into the second frame, Edwards accidentally poked Muhammad in the eye, and the latter couldn’t continue. Since then, Edwards has won the title and defended it twice. Meanwhile, Muhammad has scored wins over Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque, Sean Brady, and Gilbert Burns.
He has also called Edwards out repeatedly. Muhammad, a serious contender but often criticized for his less-than-spectacular fighting style, has finally gotten his wish. It appears Edwards has his sights set on defeating Muhammad and then chasing bigger fights at middleweight or even at light heavyweight.
We’ll see if Muhammad’s wrestling can punish Edwards or if he’s merely a speed bump along the path to the champion’s next level of greatness.
