Leon Edwards and Tom Aspinall may develop into legends with title defenses of their house nation. Or Belal Muhammad and Curtis Blaydes may make it an evening to overlook for the English.
UFC 304’s high two fights are rife with storylines, starting with Edwards going for his third protection of his welterweight belt. Edwards shocked the world when he beat Kamaru Usman with a last-minute head kick to develop into champion, after which saved the vibes going when he beat Usman once more to retain. The much less mentioned a couple of win over a torpid Colby Covington the higher, however Edwards is able to put one other stamp on his legacy if he can shut the door on his Muhammad rivalry.
As for Muhammad, an upset win on Saturday could be candy vindication after being handed over for years regardless of an ever-growing unbeaten streak. Muhammad has by no means been UFC’s No. 1 selection to steer a division. He’s now 25 minutes away from taking future into his personal arms.
What the primary occasion and co-main occasion have in frequent is that they’re each rematches of bouts that had unsatisfying conclusions. Muhammad vs. Edwards 1 resulted in a no contest when an eye fixed poke left Muhammad unable to proceed, whereas Blaydes can technically declare that he has one up on Aspinall. Technically.
Aspinall suffered a grisly knee harm 15 seconds into his first combat with Blaydes in 2022. The harm sidelined Aspinall for a yr, however he rebounded with back-to-back knockouts of Marcin Tybura after which Sergei Pavlovich to earn a share of the heavyweight crown. Aspinall is at the moment No. 1 at heavyweight within the MMA Combating World Rankings, a lofty place that might be misplaced in a flash of Blaydes takes benefit of the chance of a lifetime.
In different essential card motion, light-weight veteran King Inexperienced places Paddy Pimblett to the check, Christian Leroy Duncan and Gregory Rodrigues meet in an intriguing middleweight conflict of kinds, and high featherweight contender Arnold Allen appears to cease a skid when he faces Giga Chikadze.
What: UFC 304
The place: Co-op Stay in Manchester, England
When: Saturday, July 27. The five-fight early preliminary card begins at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+, adopted by a four-fight preliminary card at 8 p.m. ET, all on ESPN2 and ESPN+. The five-fight essential card begins at 10 p.m. ET and is offered solely on ESPN+ pay-per-view.
(Numbers in parentheses point out standing in MMA Combating’s World Rankings and Pound-for-Pound Rankings)
Leon Edwards (1, P4P-3) vs. Belal Muhammad (4)
First off, let me say that I believe this will probably be a greater combat than most followers expect. Sure, Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad have a prolonged historical past of uneventful choices, however all it takes is the precise type matchup and a few dangerous blood to make magic occur. The weather are in place for these two to entertain.
Each are so well-rounded, it’s troublesome to foretell the precise ebb and circulation of this matchup. We will all agree that Edwards has the sting in hanging, whereas Muhammad has to seek out success along with his grappling if he’s to have an opportunity of pulling off this upset. It’d take just one or two impactful moments in every spherical to win them and if Muhammad can rating the occasional takedown and sprinkle in ground-and-pound, then that’s his path to victory. In any other case, he might be coping with 25 minutes of Edwards poking away at him (sorry, poor selection of phrases).
A walkover by Edwards would genuinely shock me. Muhammad is hard and adaptable and even when he’s a step behind Edwards for almost all of the bout, he’s going to throw sufficient completely different appears at Edwards to power the champ to adapt in his personal proper. This will probably be a tactical battle in the very best manner.
To nobody’s shock, this combat goes the gap, with Edwards successful on the playing cards after 5 tense spherical.
Decide: Edwards
Tom Aspinall (1, P4P-12) vs. Curtis Blaydes (4)
This one ain’t going to the decide.
Should you’re feeling frisky and going for a protracted shot on a Blaydes determination, I perceive the inclination. Blaydes is a grinding wrestler when he must be and he’s defused many a knockout artist along with his forceful grappling. His most secure path to gold is perhaps to floor Aspinall and keep away from taking dangers.
That mentioned, individuals are inclined to overlook what a powerful grappler Aspinall is. He doesn’t all the time have to point out it as his pure energy has ended many fights earlier than there’s an opportunity for the martial arts to get combined, however he’s no sitting duck if Blaydes places him on his again. Aspinall can threaten with submissions and has greater than sufficient power and method to get the combat again to the toes. Blaydes’ wrestling must be the perfect it’s ever been if his plan is to easily smother Aspinall.
Blaydes has additionally had poor luck towards the perfect punchers within the division, a class I’m snug slotting Aspinall into. The massive Brit doesn’t simply hit laborious, he’s affected person and correct, and he can eat a shot too. Even making an allowance for the unpredictable nature of heavyweight, there’s slim probability that an prolonged hanging battle goes Blaydes’ manner.
Aspinall by second-round knockout.
Decide: Aspinall
Paddy Pimblett vs. King Inexperienced
The buck stops right here for Paddy Pimblett.
I’ve been one of the vital vocal advocates about Pimblett being higher than individuals give him credit score for, however stylistically he couldn’t have requested for a harder veteran check. Pimblett shouldn’t be a greater striker than King Inexperienced and he doesn’t have the one-shot KO energy to only catch Inexperienced. I think about “Baddy” backers expect Pimblett to seize on to Inexperienced and hoss him round, however that’s one thing few fighters outdoors of Islam Makhachev have been in a position to do.
And I hope I don’t must let you know that Pimblett isn’t fairly on Makhachev’s degree.
Perhaps I’m tremendous incorrect right here and Pimblett’s youth makes the distinction in a division that sometimes sees the younger eat the outdated, however Inexperienced hasn’t misplaced a lot of a step within the latter levels of his profession. He’s not like anybody Pimblett has confronted earlier than and I don’t know if Pimblett has the instruments to unravel this explicit drawback.
General, it must be an awesome evening for the English contingent. Pimblett must return to the drafting board after this one although.
Decide: Inexperienced
Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Gregory Rodrigues
High quality, this isn’t Muhammad Mokaev vs. Manel Kape, however so far as fights to put on the primary card, you may do quite a bit worse than this middleweight duel.
Christian Leroy Duncan has star potential and a combat in his native England ought to convey out the perfect in him. He’s a inventive striker that received’t rush into exchanges, even with the aggressive Gregory Rodrigues bearing down on him. Duncan ought to discover the studio area right here, making Rodrigues chase him till he finds a gap for one in every of his highlight-reel kicks.
Will we lastly see Rodrigues rely extra closely on his extremely vaunted Brazilian jiu-jitsu? Perhaps. Do I requested this actual query when predicting Rodrigues fights each time? Virtually undoubtedly sure. Simply use the joooo-jeeeetzooo, “Robocop!”
Sigh. This one stays on the toes, with Duncan clipping Rodrigues in Spherical 3 for a late knockout.
Decide: Duncan
Arnold Allen (7) vs. Giga Chikadze (13)
Arnold Allen on a shedding streak? Traditional wounded animal scenario.
Struggling back-to-back losses to Max Holloway and Movsar Evloev is nothing to be ashamed of, the latter combat an absolute thriller that Arnold may have pulled out if a few sequences went in another way. Because it stands, he’s most likely realized extra from these setbacks than if he’d cruised to a pair of determination wins over lesser competitors.
That’s not a knock on the opponents Giga Chikadze has fought, however it must be famous that Arnold is extra battle-tested. He additionally has 5 years on Chikadze, who’s been concerned in fight sports activities since 2008. Chikadze nonetheless has the abilities to be a contender, however he might be trending downward and that makes him weak to Allen’s high-paced offense.
Bolstered by the rowdy English followers, Allen comes out scorching and doesn’t let up en path to a bounce-back determination win.
Decide: Allen
Preliminaries
Nathaniel Wooden def. Daniel Pineda
Molly McCann def. Bruna Brasil
Caolan Loughran def. Jake Hadley
Modestas Bukauskas def. Marcin Prachnio
Oban Elliott def. Preston Parsons
Muhammad Mokaev (T9) def. Manel Kape (T9)
Sam Patterson def. Kiefer Crosbie
