UFC 304 brings the UFC back to Manchester in a card that features the best British talent we have seen in the UFC. It brings two UFC championship fights to the newly built Co-Op live arena with UFC Interim Heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall defending his belt against Curtis Blaydes which sees the two men fight once more to have a definitive winner as last time out, Aspinall hurt his leg within the first minute which called the fight off. We will also see the pride of Birmingham, Leon “Rocky” Edwards defend his UFC Welterweight Championship against well deserved contender Belal Muhammad which also is a rematch from a previous encounter which saw a no contest being said as the result due to an unfotunate eye poke. Other fighters such as highly touted prospect Muhammad Mokaev will step in the octagon against the ever so dangerous Manel Kape and Paddy Pimblett will take on Bobby Green which is another spectacular fight for fight fans which I will discuss including the rest of the card closer to the fight card.

Aspinall vs Blaydes 2

Let’s talk into more depth about the co-main event of UFC 304 where Tom Aspinall has to rarely defend his interim heavyweight championship against Curtis Blaydes as current Undisputed champion Jon “Bones” Jones is out with injury and looking to face Stipe Miocic in November for the title. Tom Aspinall has become the king of the “new breed” heavyweight talent pool that has come into the UFC which included Sergei Pavlovich, Jailton Almedia and Ciryl Gane as Aspinall seems to have the perfect balance and skill set that all the other 3 do not have. Aspinall’s impressive victory over Sergei Pavlovich sent shockwaves across the MMA world as everyone had realised how big of a threat Aspinall is to Jon Jones which is something we have not seen in a very long time. He comes into this fight facing off against a man who technically has already beaten him with Curtis “Razor” Blaydes. Blaydes gained this opportunity of his win against Jailton Almedia where he won via TKO which gave the UFC the reason to book this rematch with the interim title on the line to reduce any doubt on who is the better man between the two.

This fight could potentially blow the roof off the newly built Co-Op Live arena with how devastating the finish of the fight for either men. If Aspinall wins, I believe the next fight for him is Jon Jones or Stipe Miocic if either does not retire after the fight. If the champion on that night retires, then I believe Tom Aspinall should be granted the UFC Heavyweight champion and his next fight should count as a title defence. If Blaydes wins, it could be a very interesting time for the heavyweight division seeing Blaydes have a fight with either Jones or Stipe, especially Jones as the wrestling clashes between the two will be incredible. I will give my final predictions closer to the fight and we will have to wait and see how the fight will play out.

Edwards vs Muhammad 2

The main event between Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad for the Undisputed UFC Welterweight championship has been anticipated between both camps for a long time. The champion, Leon Edwards has cemented himself as a rightful champion following defences against Kamaru Usman and a dominant performance against Colby Covington. Leon Edwards is the only UFC champion to win a belt from the UK as Michael Bisping won the belt fighting out of the US which is why there is a sense of pride within UK MMA fans and how loved Leon is where he will get the love and respect he does July 27th. On the other hand, Belal Muhammad is not liked as much by MMA fans especially on social media which I believe is severe unfair criticism as Belal has done nothing warranted of this level of abuse and criticism. Belal has been on 10 fight unbeaten streak beating the likes of Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, Gilbert Burns and Vicente Luque. Belal unfortunately has not recieved the credit he deserves from fight fans at all but he has the opportunity to prove everyone wrong July 27th.

This fight could go one of two ways, Leon could finish the magnificant performance he started in 2021 and dominate Belal Muhammad like he was doing in the first meeting until the eye poke or Belal could show off the improvements he has made since then. Since that fight, Belal Muhammad has joined forces with Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov in their fight camps with AKA which has seen a great boost in performance levels from Belal in these fights. Belal has also shown off his hands more as seen in the Sean Brady contest where he finished him by TKO. These skills have definitely improved since the partnership with Coach Javier Mendez.

We will have to see how it plays out on July 27th at the Co-Op Live arena in Manchester. Let us know in the comments what you think about these fights and who do you believe is going to walk out of UFC 304 as champions. We will have a full card breakdown with you all closer to fight week.