UFC 304 will take place in Manchester tonight, as British champions Leon Edwards and Tom Aspinall defend their titles in intriguing rematches.
In the main event, welterweight king Edwards defends his belt against Belal Muhammad, three years after fighting the Palestinian-American to a No Contest. In their first meeting, Edwards accidentally landed an eye poke, leading the bout to be halted.
Edwards – Jamaican-born and representing Birmingham – regained momentum and won the 170lb title with a stunning knockout of Kamaru Usman in 2022, before retaining the gold against Usman and Colby Covington last year. The 32-year-old is unbeaten in 13 fights across nine years.
In tonight’s co-main event, Aspinall puts the interim heavyweight title on the line against Curtis Blaydes, two years after suffering a knee injury against the American – just 15 seconds into that clash in London. Wigan’s Aspinall, 31, has otherwise been perfect in the UFC and claimed the interim strap with a knockout of Sergei Pavlovich in November.
Typically an interim champion would challenge the regular title holder next, but Jon Jones is injured and the UFC is refusing to strip him of his belt – instead insisting that “Bones” will defend his title against Stipe Miocic next, as was planned last year.
Elsewhere at UFC 304, Paddy Pimblett, Molly McCann, Muhammad Mokaev and Arnold Allen are among the many British names in action. Follow live updates and results from UFC 304, below.
UFC 304 LIVE
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UFC 304 LIVE: Sam Patterson vs Kiefer Crosbie
Now it’s England vs Ireland, as Sam Patterson faces Kiefer Crosbie at welterweight. The pair’s face-off at yesterday’s weigh-in got a little feisty…
Alex Pattle27 July 2024 23:45
UFC 304 LIVE: Mick Parkin vs Lukasz Brzeski
Next up, Tom Aspinall’s teammate Mick Parkin faces Poland’s Lukasz Brzeski at heavyweight.
Body kick by Brzeski early on. Parkin checks a leg kick. Decent check left hook by the Briton now. Brzeski lands his own left hook.
Both men are trading clean shots in the pocket! Parkin with a good counter right hook now. Parkin leans back and looks for the left hook, and just about lands it. A decent one-two by him now.
Parkin blocks a head kick. but Brzeski’s follow-up jab is on point. Both men land in a messy exchange.
OH! Parkin hurts Brzeski with a right hook, then pours on a combination of hooks and uppercuts, and Brzeski goes down against the fence! A couple more shots, and it’s all over!
The Manchester crowd loves that!
Mick Parkin def. Lukasz Brzeski via first-round KO (punches, 3:23)
Alex Pattle27 July 2024 23:28
UFC 304 LIVE: Shauna Bannon vs Alice Ardelean
Good cross from Bannon. Ardelean just blocks a head kick, but then eats another cross. She comes back with a jab. Side kick to the body by Bannon. Another cross by Ardelean.
Now Bannon with a firm cross, and another! She lands the side kick to the body again. And again. Ardelean is landing the harder strikes, but Bannon is managing some encouraging blitzes.
There’s a brief pause in the action, as some tape has come loose on Ardelean’s glove. Back under way, 45 seconds left.
Bannon has the crowd behind her as she looks to finish strong, landing with greater volume than Ardelean.
We’ll go to the scorecards, where Ardelean might have taken the first two rounds – though the first was close; Bannon definitely earned the third.
Shauna Bannon def. Alice Ardelean via split decision 28-29, 29-28, 30-27.
The third card is too wide for Bannon, but she won’t care!
Alex Pattle27 July 2024 23:23
UFC 304 LIVE: Shauna Bannon vs Alice Ardelean
Another stiff jab by Ardelean to start the round. Now a low kick. A few scrappy exchanges follow, with both women throwing simultaneously as they close range. Bannon switches to southpaw and back.
Bannon looks for a trip, but Ardelean uses a whizzer to negate the underhook. The Romanian then gets a body lock and forces Bannon to the cage – as she did in round one.
Bannon with a decent knee, but she needs to get back into space. She’s unable to, and Ardelean secures another takedown.
Decent strikes from Ardelean while she holds Bannon in a headlock. Bannon is able to stand just in time for the buzzer.
Alex Pattle27 July 2024 23:16
UFC 304 LIVE: Shauna Bannon vs Alice Ardelean
Right then, UFC 304 is under way! We start with a women’s strawweight fight, between Ireland’s Shauna Bannon and Romania’s Alice Ardelean.
Hard outside low kick from Ardelean early on. Side kick to the body by Bannon, who then kicks high. She just misses with a one-two. Both women then land punches in close.
Hard jab by Ardelean. Strong inside low kick by Bannon. The Irishwoman is already sporting blood around her nose. She eats another jab. She’s trying the high kick intermittently. A cross tags her right on the nose now.
Into a grappling exchange as Ardelean gets a body lock and drives the Irishwoman to the fence, before dragging her to the mat. Bannon tries a triangle but to no avail.
Now she attempts an armbar. No luck there either, and Ardelean ends up in Bannon’s closed guard. Another unsuccessful armbar effort by Bannon before the buzzer.
Alex Pattle27 July 2024 23:02
UFC 304 LIVE: Dana White announces UFC 306 fights for Las Vegas’s Sphere event
In other news, UFC president Dana White announced a cluster of fights for September’s pay-per-view event last night.
On Saturday 14 September, the UFC will host an event at the Sphere in Las Vegas for the first time, as UFC 306 plays out on Mexican Independence weekend.
Here are the fights announced so far:
Sean O’Malley (C) vs Merab Dvalishvili (men’s bantamweight title)
Alexa Grasso (C) vs Valentina Shevchenko 3 (women’s flyweight title)
Brian Ortega vs Diego Lopes (featherweight)
Raul Rosas Jr vs Aoriqileng (bantamweight)
Irene Aldana vs Norma Dumont (women’s bantamweight)
Manuel Torres vs Ignacio Bahamondes (lightweight)
Edgar Chairez vs Kevin Borjas (flyweight)
Ronaldo Rodriguez vs Ode’ Osbourne (flyweight)
Yazmin Jauregui vs Ketlen Souza (women’s strawweight)
Alex Pattle27 July 2024 22:59
UFC 304 LIVE: Where do Leon Edwards and Tom Aspinall rank on our pound-for-pound list?
Alex Pattle27 July 2024 22:57
UFC 304 LIVE: Tom Aspinall lighter than challenger Curtis Blaydes ahead of rematch
Wigan’s Aspinall tipped the scales at 251lb, after Blaydes weighed in at 256lb for their co-main event.
It is not necessarily surprising that Aspinall will be the lighter of the pair tonight; the Briton is known for his unusual speed at heavyweight, and he weighed the same when he first fought Blaydes, who was 260lb for their first fight.
Also at Friday’s weigh-in, Leon Edwards successfully weighed in at 170lb, as the first fighter on the scales, before opponent Belal Muhammad came in at 169lb.
Elsewhere at the UFC 304 weigh-ins, every fighter made weight except Jake Hadley. The Briton came in one pound overweight, at 137lb, for his bantamweight clash with Caolan Loughran.
Hadley, who is stepping in on short notice to face the Irishman, has been fined 20 per cent of his purse.
Alex Pattle27 July 2024 22:50
UFC 304 LIVE: Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad open up on elevator confrontation
That same day, the UFC posted the latest episode of its usual pre-fight docu-series, Embedded, on YouTube. The episode ended with Edwards entering an elevator and engaging in a tense staredown with his Palestinian-American opponent.
“Remember The Name!” Edwards said, referencing Muhammad’s nickname. “Come on, boys. Slide in, boys,” he added, seemingly speaking to members of his own team.
Here’s what happened next, and what each fighter had to say about it:
Alex Pattle27 July 2024 22:30
UFC 304 LIVE: Aspinall and Edwards aim to right the strangest of wrongs – preview
So, catharsis for both Britons – the second and third from their nation to hold titles in UFC history – right? Almost. But not yet.
Alex Pattle27 July 2024 22:10