UFC 304 Event Breakdown: Edwards vs. Muhammad & More
UFC is expanding its legacy with each new event and the 304 edition will be no different. For one, it makes a great return to the United Kingdom. Secondly, it will be full of British fighting talent. Lastly, it will feature heavyweight and welterweight champs fighting on the same day. All of this combined is a sure-fire sign that fans have a thing or two to look forward to. But, it’s not an event only for local fans, so let us talk about it in a bit more detail.
UFC 304 Time, Date & Location
The good news is that there is not much time left to wait. UFC 304 is scheduled for the 27th of July, and the host location is the nicely-built Co-op Live Arena in Manchester. The city better known for its football will make a name for itself in the martial arts world. The UK has been a home to these types of events numerous times, but as far as Co-op Live Arena in Manchester is concerned this is the first UFC event held here. As far as the city of Manchester goes it was a good organization unit for UFC 204 eight years ago.
The Biggest MMA Names at UFC 304
As we already said, the clock is ticking on this event, and the fans are getting eager to see some of the biggest UFC names in Manchester. They will have a nice chance to do this as this card is stacked as well as any. Let’s see who are the biggest names representing the MMA world in Manchester.
Leon Edwards
Edwards is a fighter who is on an upswing trajectory and he shows no signs of slowing down. The welterweight division is in his hands after a KO win over Kamaru Usman. The man is a legit champion which he proved two more times with his title on the line and two stops of his opponents who aimed for the crown. At the moment he has 12 consecutive wins and is looking to add a 13th. The man on the opposing side of the octagon is going to be Belal Muhammed. Considering that their last outing ended in an unpopular fashion after an eye poke, we can expect a spectacle this time around.
Tom Aspinall
This is a name that all British fans are waiting to see fighting on the home soil. Aspinall is the name to follow in the heavyweight division, and he’s the far best fighter the UK had in the last few years. He’s also one of our favorite UFC picks. Sergei Pavlovich was the man who fell so that Tom could rise with his interim title. This time, Aspinall will be defending his title against Curtis Blaydes. While everyone wants to see the Tom Aspinall vs. Jon Jones title fight, the latter has been avoiding this fight for some time now. As far as the duel against Blaydes goes, he and Tom were in the cage before, but Aspinall had to forfeit that one due to a knee injury. Revenge time? We’ll see, but there’s plenty to look forward to in this duel.
Paddy Pimblett
Paddy is an excellent fighter, but he’s also the one who stands out even more when it comes to his microphone prowess. You could easily mistake him for a WWE performer. But, don’t be fooled by his sleek talking, as he has a nice fight-win streak going for him at the moment. The pinnacle of his career in the UFC was the most recent win against Tony Ferguson. He’ll be looking to add another win to his streak against Bobby Green in two weeks.
Muhammed Mokaev
A young fighter, whose name will be remembered in the world of MMA in the future is Muhammed Mokaev. Currently undefeated, going 12:0 and counting, you could say that Mokaev has full right to rely on his wrestling because he has won six fights by submission. Also, he is a master in submission defense which was more than evident during his bout with Jafel Filho. With the UFC 304 bout with Manel Kape, we can expect his streak to continue.
Fight Card
UFC 304 has a great fight card and we hope you’ll pay attention to our expert UFC picks and predictions in the next few paragraphs. We’ll start with the main event, and co-main event, and will roll down the pecking order. The upcoming event has plenty to offer and many good fighters can be found and seen outside of the events that have the media drooling all over it.
Leon Edwards vs Belal Muhammad
Edwards vs. Muhammad is the main event at UFC 304 and it is a rematch everyone is eager to see. By looking at the latest UFC betting markets you will notice that Leon is seen as a clear-cut favorite but that doesn’t mean we will not have a great fight on our hands. Some time has passed since the last time we saw Leon vs. Belal and while you were looking away Edwards had two title defenses against Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. When you take a look at this 12-win streak of wins you can easily claim that he appears to be unstoppable. It is easy to think that when you see a fighter with a unique combo of grappling, striking, and takedown defense. As we mentioned their last fight ended prematurely, but even before the stop Edwards was looking dominant.
Belal Muhammad enters this bout as an underdog despite being on a hot streak himself. With nine consecutive wins, he has fully earned this title challenge. The downside to Belal’s style is the fact that he’s not much of a striker as he failed to win any of his matches by a KO. To pull a miracle against Edwards he will need to put his best effort out. For those of you who plan to bet, Edwards is the favorite with odds standing at 1.49 while Belal has his set at 2.65.
Tom Aspinall vs Curtis Blaydes
This duel is dubbed as the co-main and it’s with a good reason. Tom Aspinall probably has the biggest draw of all heavyweight fighters in the UFC. Also, this is a rematch of their 2022 fight that ended too soon for everyone’s taste. It was only fifteen seconds into the first round when Tom was failed by his knee. This time around we can expect Tom to be in revenge mode. One could argue that he’s always like that considering that none of his matches were decided by the judges. With Aspinall, you can always count on either KO/TKO or submission. UFC odds at Stake.com and similar outlets have him as the favorite to win easily with odds set at 1.36. add his fighting style, opponent, and home crowd into the mix and you can tell why he’s so heavily favored.
But, none of this means that Blaydes will simply forfeit this match. He is a quality fighter on its own and the odds set at 3.20 do not reflect his quality as a top-end wrestler. So far in his career only four of his matches saw him drop wins and all of them were either KOs or doctor’s interventions. His chin can take a beat down but due to his focus on wrestling he often leaves too much space for his opponents and this is something that Aspinall will know how to take advantage of. A lot of the outcome in this match will depend on how much time is spent on the ground. On their feet, Tom has a clear advantage.
Bobby Green vs Paddy Pimblett
This duel has the most media coverage and it’s all thanks to the antics of these two fighters. Green took offense when Pimblett spoke of him in the media during UFC 300 and since then this match has been in the cards. Bobby is entering this duel full of confidence after beating Jim Miller and winning three of his last four games. He lost only to Jalin Turner, beating the above-mentioned Miller, Tony Ferguson, and Grant Dawson in the process.
Paddy Pimblett on the other side is an MMA superstar in his own right. As far as UFC is concerned he has a clear 5:0 score, with seven consecutive wins. During his career, he won 21 and lost 3 matches. Quite a good fighter who stands his ground both in the octagon and on the mic. Paddy also took turns on Tony Ferguson who was losing matches left and right, but he also held his own against the likes of Jared Gordon, Rodrigo Vargas, Jordan Leavitt, and Luigi Vendramini. Both fighters are entering this match full of confidence and it is hard to determine the winner beforehand. Even the bookies have a hard time shifting the tides as they have Green as a slight favorite with 1.70 odds while Paddy has to stand his ground at 2.17.
Muhammad Mokaev vs Manel Kape
While not in the top three fights in our eyes for UFC 304, this bout could have easily taken the main stage for any other event. Manel Kape had a rocky start to his UFC career as he began with two defeats. With hard work and dedication he turned his fortunes around and currently stands at 4:2. During his MMA career he racked up 19 wins paired with 6 defeats. If we look only at his UFC outings the last four fighters he beat were all quality men and you can tell that by looking at the names such as David Dvorak, Felipe Dos Santos, Ode’ Osbourne, and Zhalgas Zhumagulov.
While a good fighter, Manel’s credentials pale when compared to Mokaev. As we already said, he has 12 wins in his career, six of which came in the UFC and zero defeats. Five of his last six opponents were submitted and Muhammad loves to take things to the ground. He’s only 23 years of age and managed to take names such as Tim Elliott and Alex Perez down.
Despite different starts to their respective careers, this match doesn’t have Mokaev as a clear-cut favorite. He’s just slightly aligned to win this bout with his odds being set at 1.88. to show that we’re expecting a good match on the 27th of July you can tell by looking at Kape whose odds are set at 1.93. Not an easy bout to pick your favorite, right?
How to Bet on MMA and UFC 304
If you find these duels, and the rest of the card we didn’t cover, interesting and you like the odds on hand, you should make a bet or two in the upcoming days and weeks. The best way to do this is to pick a reputable platform that you can trust with both your information and wallet and to trust their odds too. So, to get started the right way, follow the next few steps:
1. Open an account at Stake, sign up, decide on your payment method, and choose the deposit you want to dedicate to UFC 304 betting.
2. Don’t rush things. Before betting and spending your first deposit check out the promotions page on their website and see if you qualify for a promo code or a bonus.
3. Use the navigation menu that will lead you to the upcoming MMA and UFC events. Check out the entire card and the odds before you make your winning combination.
4. Dedicate time to reading the betting guide that could help you always make the right picks.
5. Pick the event you want to bet on, scroll through the fights, check the odds, pick the fights, and make your slip.
6. The last step is of course to make a bet. Decide the amount you want to bet and after choosing the fights, and the odds, make a payment and wait for the outcome.
With all things taken into account, here you have some basic facts about the upcoming UFC 304 event, the main bouts, and the odds covering them. The rest is up to you.
