The 14-bout card at UFC 304 in Manchester, England, featured a rematch of two title bouts: Belal Muhammad defeated Leon Edwards to become the new welterweight champion. In the co-main event, Tom Aspinall handily defeated Curtis Blaydes, leaving no doubt that he is one of the best strikers in the world. To make sense of it all, Brett Okamoto, Andreas Hale and Jeff Wagenheim offer their final thoughts.
The stage was set for a star performance from Leon Edwards and although the sun was still setting in the early hours of Sunday morning, the fans at the Co-op Live Arena were wide awake and ready to cheer on the show, having just seen local heroes Tom Aspinall and Paddy Pimblett perform brilliantly in the first round.
But Edwards didn't satisfy his home crowd, and not just because he lost the UFC welterweight championship to Belal Muhammad. The sun had risen in Manchester by the time the verdict was read, but the heat had already died down. The main event featured the challenger dominating on the canvas or in the clinch, racking up over 12 minutes of control. Muhammad never seriously threatened a finish, giving Edwards few chances to make a big splash and giving the British fans little reason to cheer.
This is exactly what Muhammad was trying to do. But it was unlikely, considering that Edwards' last three fights were against strong wrestlers (Kamaru Usman twice, Colby Covington), and the champion fought most of them standing up, where he is most dangerous. The first time Edwards and Muhammad fought in 2021, it was declared a no contest after Muhammad was unable to continue after being poked in the eye early in the second round, but Edwards was in a good position to advance the match.
This time it was different. Edwards came back to life in the third round, scoring an early takedown, threatening a submission until the horn and then turning the tables in the final round to land an elbow that bloodied Muhammad's face late on, but the soon-to-be-defunct champion just couldn't get a consistent offense going. His title reign was gone.
So Muhammad becomes the latest everyday person to win a UFC belt, following in the footsteps of fighters like Sean Strickland and Dorricus du Plessis, who put in championship-winning performances but lacked the star quality UFC brass desires. Muhammad deserves the credit for this win, but will it go to him?
Edwards was never a welcome addition to the UFC star breeding facility, so good luck to Muhammad, who waited so long to be given his chance. He had to build a 10-0 record before facing Edwards, and he made the most of it tonight, but the dominant style in which he won the title would have made this fight boring even if it hadn't been in front of his opponent's hometown fans and in the middle of a sleepy night. — Wagenheim
Will Jon Jones take the call for Tom Aspinall?
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Tom Aspinall has a message for Jon Jones after his title defence
Following his quick win over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304, Tom Aspinall told Jon Jones he was the better fighter.
Hale: It only took Aspinall a minute to thoroughly defeat Blaydes and erase the only blemish on his UFC record. Outside of Ciryl Gane, no one else has been as threatening as Aspinall.
Barring injury-related TKO losses, Aspinall has beaten the top contenders in the heavyweight division with little resistance. His last three bouts against Blaydes, Sergey Pavlovic and Marcin Tybura have lasted a combined three minutes and 22 seconds, with none lasting longer than 90 seconds. Aspinall has entered the Octagon in the shortest bout times in UFC history, averaging just two minutes and 10 seconds, and the 60 seconds it took him to take down Blaydes will likely only increase his lead.
Jones has every right to ignore the calls and retire once he beats Stipe Miocic in November, and given that he has much more to lose than gain from a fight with Aspinall, it probably won't diminish his status as the best mixed martial artist around.
But if Jones wants to prove he's still the best fighter in the world, he'll have to face the toughest challenge of his UFC career against a man bigger, faster and stronger than anyone he's ever competed with inside the Octagon.
A fight between Jones and Francis Ngannou was expected to be a big one, but Aspinall's threat eclipsed that, making Jones vs. Aspinall the biggest possible fight in the UFC outside of Conor McGregor.
Paddy Pimblett was always this good
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Paddy Pimblett wakes up Manchester with submission win
Paddy Pimblett thrilled the Manchester crowd with a stunning submission win at UFC 304.
Okamoto: Whether Pimblett was up to the task of capturing people's attention can be seen in the over-reactions to his performance.
When he beat Jared Gordon in a match that many predicted would go to Gordon, fans and pundits alike hang on Don't jump on the bandwagon. When he failed to beat veteran Tony Ferguson, rumors of him being “overrated” started circulating. And then, after his (albeit impressive) submission win over King Greene, suddenly social media was flooded with “Paddy is the real deal” comments?
Pimblett's performance is a big swing for the sport as a whole. What did he do Saturday that we didn't know? We know he has a dangerous ground game. We also know that when the spotlight is strongest, he tends to rise. This is not to discount his past accomplishments. In fact, quite the opposite.
This was the best win of his UFC career so far. But why do we treat it as if he showed us something we didn't notice? I knew Pimbret would perform like this, and I think UFC knew it too. The top of the division is still going to be tough for Pimbret. It always has been. The question remains how far he can go. And while for some, this last performance may show that he's the real deal, I was under the impression that we already knew he was the real deal.
