UFC 304 storylines: Can Edwards and Aspinall deliver at home?
With two title fights, a raucous crowd and big stakes up and down a 14-fight card, UFC 304 looks to be full of drama in Manchester, England. (10 p.m. ET on ESPN PPV)
Fellow Englishmen Leon Edwards and Tom Aspinall look to defend their titles — welterweight and interim heavyweight, respectively — against deserving contenders Belal Muhammad and Curtis Blaydes. Both bouts will serve as rematches, although both previous fights revealed much of anything regarding the outcome of Saturday’s festivities.
Pair that with 13 fighters representing the United Kingdom inside the Co-op Live arena, and you’ve got a potentially electrifying experience on tap for fight fans. But questions remain: Can the British stars shine bright on the biggest stage? How will the odd timing — 3 a.m. main card start — impact the fighters? What will the fallout of the big fights mean for other top stars of the sport?
ESPN MMA writers Andreas Hale, Brett Okamoto and Jeff Wagenheim spotlight the top storylines to follow and matchups to watch during the fights this weekend.
How will the clock impact the title fights of UFC 304?
Wagenheim: UFC 304 will be the promotion’s first fight card in Manchester, England, since the fall of 2016 at UFC 204. The last one was a big deal. Michael Bisping, the most famous fighter in England, made the only successful title defense of his UFC middleweight championship that night against Dan Henderson. The sellout crowd sang along to his walkout song. And when Bisping pulled his mouthpiece out during introductions and showed it to the TV camera, revealing a Union Jack design, the building full of proud fellow citizens erupted.
Why was it notable that English fans would show up and make noise for their local hero? Because the fans could have been home sleeping. The main event began at around 5 a.m. local time to cater to pay-per-view customers in North America. While the crowd did come alive for Bisping, some reporters who were there saw fans dozing off in the stands during the card.
Nearly eight years later, despite MMA being a bigger deal than ever in England, the start time situation will be the same on Saturday. By the time the two English champions, Edwards and Aspinall, set foot inside the Octagon to defend their belts in UFC 304’s final two bouts, it once again will be early Sunday morning.
Now, inconvenient start times are not just a Manchester thing. And even when the fights are in North America, fans in England and other parts of the world often have to stay up all night to watch. But switching off the TV and going right to bed is different from having to travel home from an arena as the sun is rising after you’ve been up all night cheering on your local fighters.
“I think it is absolutely terrible,” Aspinall said in a video posted to his YouTube channel. “I think, yeah, it’s just not fair on the fans, not fair on the UK fans, obviously. Predominantly, it’s an American audience, so I understand that they want to sell to them. But why can’t they sell to them in the afternoon, which is our evening time? Why can’t the Americans watch it in the afternoon?”
Who will leave Manchester as Britain’s biggest star?
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Tom Aspinall is emotional after winning interim heavyweight title
Tom Aspinall displays his emotions after knocking out Sergei Pavlovich in the first round to win the UFC interim heavyweight championship.
Hale: Edwards is the headliner, and Riverside Rocky’s 13-fight unbeaten streak is impressive. However, Muhammad is a challenging task for his third title defense. The bigger challenge may be delivering an exciting fight, as Muhammad has been known to squash explosive offenses with his grappling. Aspinall has a tremendous opportunity to see his celebrity shoot to the moon against Blaydes.
There’s an appetite for a British heavyweight to become the best fighter in the world, and should Aspinall collect his eighth consecutive win inside the distance, he’ll be hard to deny. But Paddy Pimblett has arguably the highest ceiling in terms of star power on the card, with the potential to break out as a massive star for the UFC. He’ll have his toughest test to date against King Green, and if he passes with flying colors, he could leave UFC 304 on a similar superstar trajectory as Conor McGregor when he knocked out Dustin Poirier at UFC 178 in 2014.
Keep an eye on Jon Jones and Alex Pereira — via social media
Okamoto: If Aspinall wins, we could be in for a busy night on social media. Because if Aspinall wins, he’s going to get the mic in front of his home country, and he’s going to be asked what’s next. And if that happens, there are only two names for him to mention, and they are two of the biggest in the sport: Jon Jones and Alex Pereira.
Jones, expected to face Stipe Miocic later this year, has shown zero interest in unifying his heavyweight title against Aspinall. He’s brushed it off at every opportunity. Jones likes to insert himself on fight nights, though. If Aspinall wins and Jones’ name gets brought up, odds are he will let his feelings known publicly. And, if Aspinall loses, I’d still expect Jones to take something of a “victory lap,” poking fun at those who suggested Aspinall would have ever been a real threat to him.
Jones is the most obvious name for Aspinall to call out, but Pereira is right there at No. 2. The light heavyweight champ is on pace for Fighter of the Year, having headlined UFC 300 and UFC 303 with knockout performances. He intends to move to heavyweight at some point, even though UFC CEO Dana White has been very lukewarm on that idea. With Jones targeting a legacy-type fight against Miocic, Aspinall will need a new challenger for his interim belt. Pereira is the most active champ on the roster, and something tells me he would have no problem responding to an Aspinall callout if it happens.
Can “Paddy the Baddy” and “Meatball Molly” give the locals a show?
Hale: Although the main and co-main events feature a pair of British champions, the most intriguing fights for locals might be further down the card. Pimblett and Molly McCann will be featured on the same UFC card for the fourth time. The longtime friends from Liverpool have built a massive following due to their mission to fight for the working class in the United Kingdom.
They are on different career paths at the moment. Pimblett is inching toward being a main eventer, as he looks to go 5-0 in his UFC tenure. At the same time, McCann will fight on the prelims and pursue her second consecutive win after dropping back-to-back fights against Erin Blanchfield and Julija Stoliarenko. But the popularity of “Paddy the Baddy” and “Meatball Molly” goes beyond wins and losses. Their infectious energy has been a boon for British MMA and a win for both in their home country at this event could be massive for the sport’s growth.
Will the next flyweight title contender reveal themselves at UFC 304?
Okamoto: If you look at the top five rankings at flyweight, you won’t find Muhammad Mokaev (No. 6) or Manel Kape (No. 8) — but if you think that means this can’t be a No. 1 contender fight, you’ve got a short memory. Defending champ Alexandre Pantoja is coming off a win over then-No. 10 Steve Erceg in May.
Mokaev has won seven in a row and was irked by the UFC’s decision to give Erceg a title shot before him back at UFC 301. If he moves to 8-0 with an overall undefeated record of 12-0, it’s hard to make a case for anyone else to get the next shot. Especially since the top of the division is generally in flux at the moment. Brandon Royval just lost to Pantoja in December. Brandon Moreno is 0-3 against him, including a fight on “The Ultimate Fighter.” Amir Albazi is injured. Kai Kara-France is coming off back-to-back losses. Mokaev doesn’t have the most entertaining style, and the fact the UFC put this bout on the undercard is somewhat telling, but this could very well be the fight that sends Mokaev to a championship opportunity.
The same goes for Kape, even though he’s had a down year thus far. He missed weight for a fight against Matheus Nicolau in January, which resulted in it being canceled. He was then forced to pull out of a scheduled rematch in April due to injury. Still, Kape has won four in a row and is one of the hardest hitters at 125 pounds. He’s had issues on the scale and holds a loss to Pantoja from 2021, but he’s been very impressive when he has fought in recent years.
