UFC takeaways from 304: Will Muhammad finally shine? Can Jones-Aspinall be a reality?
Two title fights are on the line there is only one winner who will remain in the fight. Understanding the drama of UFC 304 in Manchester.
By ESPN
July 28, 2024 at 6:00 AM
Jul 28, 2024, 02:00 AM ET
A 14-fight card held at UFC 304 in Manchester, England was dominated by two title fight Rematches. Belal Muhammad dethroned Leon Edwards to become the welterweight champion of the future. In the main fight, Tom Aspinall defeated his opponent, Curtis Blydes which left his fans in no doubt that Aspinall is one the top strikers in the world. To help you understand the whole thing, Brett Okamoto, Andreas Hale and Jeff Wagenheim provide their thoughts on the final event.
The stage was ready to allow Leon Edwards to put on a spectacular performance. It was early in the Sunday morning, when the sun had yet to go setting and the crowd at the Co-op Live arena were fully up and ready to roar for the show after having just watched two other local stars, Tom Aspinall and Paddy Pimblett who scored rousing opening round finals.
Edwards didn’t bring the people home in a happy mood Edwards, however. It wasn’t just because he was unable to defend his UFC world title in the hands of Belal Muhammad. At the time that the decision was announced at the time, the sun was rising in Manchester however the energy of the arena was already slowed. The main fight was performed with the contestant dominating spots on the canvas, or in clinches in addition to accumulating more than 12 minutes of controlled time. Muhammad was never able to seriously challenge an end however he did give Edwards no chance of a huge performance, and British fans had little reasons to roar.
That’s exactly the exact thing Muhammad has said he would do. It was a bit unlikely, considering the fact that Edwards his last three fights had all been against powerful wrestlers like Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman. Kamaru Usman twice and Colby Covington -and the champion had generally kept the fights on the floor which is where he’s the most dangerous. However, when Edwards as well as Muhammad first came together in 2021 in a match which ended in the early stages of Round 2 in a no-contest following an eye poke that resulted in Muhammad ineligible to fight, Edwards had kept the fight in a position that allowed him to get the upper hand.
This time, however. However, Edwards was a dominant third round, landing the takedown early, and was contesting a submission before his horn rang, the champion turned his back in the final round, and hit a late elbow that made Muhammad’s face in a puddle The soon-to-be dethroned champion could not come up with a an effective offense. His reign as champion slowed out.
Now Muhammad has become the very latest everyday man to wear an UFC belt following the footsteps of fighters like Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis fighters who deliver winning performances, but don’t have the star power that the UFC brass is looking for. Muhammad deserves all the praise for his victory however, will they get his way?
It is true that the UFC star-building machine has not fully accepted Edwards. Good luck to Muhammad who been waiting for a long time prior to getting his shot. He was required to go for a run of 10 fights without losing before being offered a match with Edwards. He did his best in this fight, but the brutal style with the fight that earned him the title would have made the fight a complete flop even if it wasn’t before the home crowd of his opponent and the late evening hours. — Wagenheim
Is Jon Jones going to answer the phone for Tom Aspinall?
Hale It was all Aspinall needed was a single minute to erase the one blemish on his UFC record by taking out Blaydes. With the exception of Ciryl Gane there’s no one available for Aspinall to take on that could pose a legitimate threat.
Apart from being a TKO losing due to an injury, Aspinall has wiped out the top part for the heavyweight division with almost no resistance. Aspinall’s three previous fights against Blaydes, Sergei Pavlovich and Marcin Tybura have been a total of 3 minutes, 22 seconds and none of them lasted more than 90 minutes. Aspinall was in his first fight in the Octagon having an overall of 2:10, which was the fastest of any fighter in UFC history. The 60 seconds required to knock out Blaydes will help him extend his lead.
As it stands, Jones has every right to ignore the warning and sail out into the sunset after Jones is likely to beat Stipe Miocic in November. This won’t likely reduce his standing as a top mixed martial artist in the world, given that he’s got a lot less to gain than he gains in the fight against Aspinall.
But, if he’s looking to prove he’s the top fighter on the planet, Jones will have to face the most difficult task that he has faced in the course of the course of his UFC fight career. He will be facing a man larger, faster and more formidable than anyone that he’s ever fought in with in an Octagon with.
As significant as a bout among Jones with Francis Ngannou was believed to be however, the danger of Aspinall has overshadowed it and made Jones-Aspinall to be the biggest fight that could be fought in the UFC and beyond any fight with Conor McGregor.
Paddy Pimblett was always this good
Okamoto: Here’s how you can tell that Pimblett has performed his task when it comes to influencing people to be interested in his work — the overreactions to his actions.
In the event that he defeated Jared Gordon, in a fight that saw many score for Gordon it appeared that the pundits and supporters alike couldn’t just wait to get onto the wave. In the event that he did not finish a veteran Tony Ferguson, the “overrated” storyline increased. Then, following one (albeit) incredible defeat by submission to King Green, suddenly social media has been flooded with “Paddy is real” remarks?
The whole sport is swaying too far with each Pimblett performance. What did he accomplish on the other day that we didn’t even know that he could have done? We know that he plays an extremely dangerous game on the ground. We’ve seen that he can get up to bat in the moments when light is highest. This isn’t meant to diminish his past actions. Actually, the exact opposite.
It was the most impressive victory in his UFC career to the present. But how can we treat this as if it demonstrated something we didn’t know about? I was aware that Pimblett could do this, and I believe the UFC was aware of it too. The top division will continue to be difficult for Pimblett. It always was going to be. The question of just how many miles he’ll go remains to be answered. For certain people, this performance proves he’s real However, I thought we already knew that he was.