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ESPN
Jul 27, 2024, 06:00 PM ET
Leon Edwards defends his UFC welterweight championship against Belal Muhammad in the main event of two-title-fight UFC 304 on Saturday in Manchester, England. The other championship bout also features an Englishman titleholder -- Tom Aspinall defending his interim heavyweight belt against Curtis Blaydes.
Edwards (22-3, 1 NC) is unbeaten in his past 13 fights, most recently beating Colby Covington by decision in December in his second 170-pound title defense. Edwards is No. 3 in the ESPN pound-for-pound men's rankings. Muhammad (23-3, 1 NC) is unbeaten in 10 straight. His most recent win came over a year ago, by decision over Gilbert Burns in May 2023. Muhammad is No. 3 in the ESPN welterweight rankings.
Aspinall (14-3), No. 1 in the ESPN heavyweight rankings, has won two straight fights, most recently a first-round knockout of Sergei Pavlovich in November that earned him the interim title. The third-ranked Blaydes (18-4, 1 NC) is coming off a second-round KO of Jailton Almeida in March.
Both title bouts are rematches of fights that ended controversially. Edwards-Muhammad in 2021 was ruled no contest after an eye poke early in Round 2 rendered Muhammad unable to continue. In 2022, Blaydes was awarded a TKO win after Aspinall blew out his knee 15 seconds into their fight.
What are the storylines behind the top fights at UFC 304? How are experts breaking them down? What do the fighters have to say? Here is the fight card, how to watch it and a collection of all of the UFC 304 essentials.
How to watch the fights
Watch the PPV and all other fights on ESPN+: Get ESPN+ here.
Watch the prelims on ESPN2. Download the ESPN App | ESPN2 | WatchESPN | TV schedule
Purchased the fight on your phone and want to stream on TV? Find out how here.
There's also FightCenter, which offers live updates for every UFC card.
UFC 304 fight card
ESPN+ PPV, 10 p.m. ET
Welterweight championship: Leon Edwards (c) vs. Belal Muhammad 2
Heavyweight interim championship: Tom Aspinall (ic) vs. Curtis Blaydes 2
Lightweight: King Green vs. Paddy Pimblett
Middleweight: Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Gregory Rodrigues
Featherweight: Arnold Allen vs. Giga Chikadze
ESPN2/ESPN+, 8 p.m.
Featherweight: Nathaniel Wood vs. Daniel Pineda
Strawweight: Molly McCann vs. Bruna Brasil
Men's bantamweight: Jake Hadley vs. Caolán Loughran
Men's flyweight: Muhammad Mokaev vs. Manel Kape
ESPN+, 6 p.m.
Welterweight: Oban Elliott vs. Preston Parsons
Light heavyweight: Modestas Bukauskas vs. Marcin Prachnio
Welterweight: Sam Patterson vs. Kiefer Crosbie
Heavyweight: Mick Parkin vs. Lukasz Brzeski
Strawweight: Shauna Bannon vs. Alice Ardelean
(c) = defending champion | (ic) = defending interim champion
Edwards and Aspinall lead English MMA's golden generation
Two decades after England's first UFC event, the country finds itself flush with two champions in welterweight king Leon Edwards and interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall -- both of whom will fight this Saturday at UFC 304 in Manchester (10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV). Plus, England's future is bright with the next wave of prospects poised to become stars, such as Paddy Pimblett and Dakota Ditcheva, among others. Through it all, their inspirations and opportunities can be drawn back to an Englishman pulling off an upset while dealing with his father's failing health.
Now, the region is arguably one of the world's strongest developers of MMA talent.
Hale and Okamoto: Inside the making of English MMA's golden generation
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?
Ranking the storylines of UFC 304
Betting experts and coaches deep dive on UFC 304
Andreas Hale spoke to ESPN analyst and former UFC welterweight Alan Jouban to get his perspective on the UFC main event. ESPN betting expert Ian Parker adds insights and analysis on the main event and other intriguing bets he likes on the card.
Hale and Parker: Expert picks and best bets for UFC 304
Our data model takes on UFC 304 title fights
What do the analytics say about upcoming championship fights like the two on the marquee at UFC 304? Should a grappler such as Belal Muhammad be considered a favorite against a striker such as Leon Edwards? Does a rematch hurt or help a current champion Tom Aspinall?
Using predictive models agnostic of betting lines, we examined how each champion's matchup appears from a favorability view. Essentially, is this a good matchup for the champion or the challenger? The inputs consider each fighter's performance metrics inside the Octagon and select factors about the fighter outside the cage. The higher the score, the more favorable the matchup for the incumbent champ.
These scores don't indicate how to bet the fight. They assess relative favorability, running from the riskiest to the best matchup.
