UFC 304

UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad 2
The poster for UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad 2
PromotionUltimate Fighting Championship
DateJuly 27, 2024 (2024-07-27)
VenueCo-op Live
CityManchester, England
Attendance17,907[1]
Total gate$6,720,000[1]
Event chronology
UFC on ESPN: Lemos vs. Jandiroba UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad 2 UFC on ABC: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov

UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 27, 2024, at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England.[2]

Background

This was the first sporting event to take place at the Co-op Live arena, which opened in April 2024.[3]

The event marked the promotion's fifth visit to Manchester and first since UFC 204 in October 2016.[2] Despite the event taking place in Manchester, the event was held based on Pacific Daylight Time (PDT, UTC-7) (Las Vegas) time with preliminary fights starting at 23.00 British Summer Time (15.00 PDT), and the main card starting 03.00 BST, which is the standard start time for UFC pay-per-view events of 19.00 PDT, which drew massive criticism from fans and fighters. Fans believed the matches should have started earlier (19.00 BST, or 11.00 PDT) for the UK audience.[4]

A UFC Welterweight Championship bout between current champion Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad headlined the event.[5] The pair previously fought at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Muhammad in March 2021, where the fight was declared a no contest following an accidental eye poke which left Muhammad unable to continue.[6]

An interim UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between the title holder Tom Aspinall and Curtis Blaydes co-headlined the event.[7] They previously met at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Aspinall in July 2022 in which Blaydes won after Aspinall injured his knee fifteen seconds into the bout keeping him out of competition for a year.[8]

A middleweight bout between Christian Leroy Duncan and Robert Bryczek was scheduled for this event.[9] However, Bryczek withdrew from the fight for unknown reasons and was replaced by former LFA Middleweight Champion Gregory Rodrigues.[10]

A women's strawweight bout between Ravena Oliveira and Shauna Bannon was scheduled for this event.[11] However, Oliveira withdrew from the bout due to an injury and was replaced with promotional newcomer Alice Ardelean.[12]

A bantamweight bout between Ramon Taveras and Caolán Loughran was scheduled for this event.[13] However, Taveras had to withdraw from the bout due to an injury and was reportedly relaced by Hecher Sosa.[14][15] It was later reported that Sosa would not be competing at the event as Loughran would face Jake Hadley instead.[16][17] At the weigh-ins, Hadley weighed in at 137 pounds, half a pound over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at catchweight and Hadley was fined 20 percent of his purse which went to Loughran.[18]

The event originally featured $50,000 fight night bonuses, which were raised to $100,000 before the event.[19]

Results

Main card
Weight class Method Round Time Notes
Welterweight Belal Muhammad def. Leon Edwards (c) Decision (unanimous) (48–47, 48–47, 49–46) 5 5:00 [a]
Heavyweight Tom Aspinall (ic) def. Curtis Blaydes KO (punches) 1 1:00 [b]
Lightweight Paddy Pimblett def. King Green Technical Submission (triangle choke) 1 3:22
Middleweight Gregory Rodrigues def. Christian Leroy Duncan Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) 3 5:00
Featherweight Arnold Allen def. Giga Chikadze Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) 3 5:00
Preliminary card (ESPN 2 / ESPN+)
Featherweight Nathaniel Wood def. Daniel Pineda Decision (unanimous) (29–27, 29–27, 29–28) 3 5:00
Women's Strawweight Bruna Brasil def. Molly McCann Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) 3 5:00
Catchweight (137 lb) Jake Hadley def. Caolán Loughran Decision (unanimous) (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) 3 5:00
Flyweight Muhammad Mokaev def. Manel Kape Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) 3 5:00
Early preliminary card (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
Welterweight Oban Elliott def. Preston Parsons Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) 3 5:00
Light Heavyweight Modestas Bukauskas def. Marcin Prachnio Submission (arm-triangle choke) 3 3:12
Welterweight Sam Patterson def. Kiefer Crosbie Submission (arm-triangle choke) 1 2:50
Heavyweight Mick Parkin def. Łukasz Brzeski KO (punches) 1 3:23
Women's Strawweight Shauna Bannon def. Alice Ardelean Decision (split) (28–29, 29–28, 30–27) 3 5:00
  1. ^ For the UFC Welterweight Championship.
  2. ^ For the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship.

[20]

Bonus awards

The following fighters received bonuses.[21]

  • Fight of the Night: No bonus awarded.
  • Performance of the Night ($200,000): Paddy Pimblett
  • Performance of the Night ($100,000): Tom Aspinall and Mick Parkin

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Mike Bohn (2024-07-28). "UFC 304 post-event facts: Tom Aspinall shortens fight time record in rare interim title defense". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
  2. ^ a b Guillherme Cruz (2024-04-24). "UFC 304 announced for Manchester this summer". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  3. ^ Staff (2024-04-24). "UFC 304 confirmed for Manchester in July". bbc.com. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  4. ^ Mathew Riddle (2024-05-01). "Aspinall: UFC 304 Start Time 'Absolutely Terrible'". si.com. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
  5. ^ Mike Bohn (2024-05-16). "UFC 304 official with Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad headliner and more in Manchester". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
  6. ^ Nolan King (2021-03-14). "UFC Fight Night 187 results: Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad ends in nasty accidental eye poke". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
  7. ^ Staff (2024-05-16). "Interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes set for UFC 304 co-main event". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
  8. ^ Eddie Law (2022-07-23). "UFC London: Aspinall suffers knee injury 15 seconds in, Blaydes takes TKO decision". cagesidepress.com. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
  9. ^ Bryson Hester (2024-05-23). "UFC 304 adds Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Robert Bryczek". cagesidepress.com. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  10. ^ Mathew Riddle. "UFC 304: savage middleweight strikers clash at Manchester PPV". si.com. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  11. ^ Parviz Iskenderov (2024-05-14). "UFC 304: Molly McCann faces Bruna Brasil, Shauna Bannon meets Ravena Oliveira". fightmag.com. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  12. ^ Ryan Harkness (2024-07-15). "TikTok star Alice Ardelean added to UFC 304 fight card in Manchester". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  13. ^ Ian O'Neill (2024-04-17). "Caolan Loughran vs. Ramon Tavares set for UFC 304". severemma.com. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  14. ^ Nolan King (2024-07-17). "Ramon Taveras withdraws from UFC 304 vs. Caolan Loughran: 'It sucks that it came to this'". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2024-07-17.
  15. ^ Daniel Manso (2024-07-18). "New Spanish partner for Topuria: Hecher joins the UFC". as.com. Retrieved 2024-07-18. (in Spanish)
  16. ^ Cristina Parra (2024-07-18). "Hecher Sosa's dream on pause: "It was very close!"". as.com. Retrieved 2024-07-19. (in Spanish)
  17. ^ Nolan King (2024-07-22). "Matchup Roundup: New UFC, PFL, Bellator fights announced in the past week (July 15-21)". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  18. ^ Alexander K. Lee (2024-07-26). "UFC 304 weigh-in results: 2 title bouts official, 1 fighter misses". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  19. ^ Nolan King, Ken Hathaway and Abbey Subhan (2024-07-25). "Dana White increases UFC 304 performance bonuses to six figures after King Green's plea". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
  20. ^ "UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad 2". Ultimate Fighting Championship. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 2024-05-16.
  21. ^ Chris Taylor (2024-07-27). "UFC 304 Bonus Report: Paddy Pimblett takes home $200k". bjpenn.com. Retrieved 2024-07-27.