Our “Spinning Back Clique” breaks down UFC 304, including the welterweight and interim heavyweight title bouts in Manchester.
The UFC’s next pay-per-view event is just a few days away, and we could see two new champions.
The promotion travels to Co-op Live in Manchester, England, for a massive event that features a lot of home country talent.
In the main event, [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag], who fights out of Birmingham, looks to defend his welterweight title against [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag]. In the co-feature, [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag], who fights out of Liverpool, puts his interim heavyweight title on the line against [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag].
These are high-stakes fights, with all parties involved risking everything. But who has the most to lose? Who has the most to gain?
There is also plenty to like on the undercard of this event, with multiple bouts potentially having title implications.
This week, our “Spinning Back Clique” of Farah Hannoun, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Matthew Wells discussed the top of the card along with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. Check out their conversation in the video above, and be sure to watch this week’s full episode below.
https://youtube.com/live/KNxplxwLQ20
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 60.
Curtis Blaydes sees Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic for what it is, and the “interim” tag attached to the UFC 304 co-main event means nothing to him.
MANCHESTER, England – The “interim” tag attached to the UFC 304 co-main event means nothing to [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag].
Blaydes takes on Tom Aspinall on Saturday at Co-op Live (ESPN+ pay-per-view), with a chance to claim the interim heavyweight championship. Unlike most interim title fights, this isn’t a new one, as Aspinall is defending the interim belt he claimed with a knockout of Sergei Pavlovich last November at UFC 295.
Why the UFC heavyweight division is currently in this state is simple: [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] are getting their way.
Jones was set to defend his undisputed heavyweight title at UFC 295 until suffering a torn pectoral muscle less than a month out, which prompted the UFC to create an interim title then that Aspinall won. The reason for Aspinall’s rare interim title defense now is because the UFC is committed to booking Jones vs. Miocic, which is expected to take place this November.
With Jones and Miocic openly talking about the end of their careers, Blaydes sees the legacy fight for what it is.
“Yes, this is the real belt in my mind. In my mind, Jones vs. Stipe is just their retirement fight,” Blaydes said Wednesday at UFC 304 media day. “Not to be rude, but they’re both one or two fights away (from retirement). More than likely, this is their get-the-bag-get-out fight, which is fine. That’s how I view it.”
Blaydes isn’t surprised and also sees White’s screaming for what it is.
“This is Dana White, one of the greatest promoters in the world,” Blaydes said. “He knows how to add hype and market. That’s what he does. That’s his job, one of the best at it. I’m not shocked. I expect it actually. … He wants to squeeze that juice to the last drop, and he wants everyone to watch (Jones vs. Miocic).”
As far as Jones being considered the best pound-for-pound, Blaydes believes that just can’t be the case for one simple reason.
“You’ve got to be active,” Blaydes said. “This isn’t like a skill-based (title). This is an active (title). He hasn’t been that active. You can’t be the best if you’re not active.”
In the third episode of UFC 304 “Embedded,” Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad have a run-in in the hotel elevator.
The UFC is across the pond for UFC 304, and the popular “Embedded” fight week video series is here to document what’s happening behind the scenes.
UFC 304 (pay-per-view/ESPN/ESPN+) takes place Saturday at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
In the main event, welterweight champion [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] (22-3 MMA, 14-2 UFC) puts his belt on the line in a rematch with [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) three years after their first encounter ended in a no contest. And in the co-headliner, [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) defends the interim heavyweight championship in a rematch with [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] (18-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) two years after a freak knee injury to Aspinall ended their first fight.
The third episode of “Embedded” follows the featured fighters while they get ready for fight week. Here is the UFC’s description of the episode from YouTube:
Champ Leon Edwards has a run in with Belal Muhammad; Champ Tom Aspinall is interviewed by Anthony Smith; King Green eats dinner; Molly McCann goes through check-in interviews; Curtis Blaydes trains at the hotel.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
In the second episode of UFC 304 “Embedded,” “Meatball” Molly McCann takes us to her restaurant.
The UFC is across the pond for UFC 304, and the popular “Embedded” fight week video series is here to document what’s happening behind the scenes.
UFC 304 (pay-per-view/ESPN/ESPN+) takes place Saturday at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
In the main event, welterweight champion [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] (22-3 MMA, 14-2 UFC) puts his belt on the line in a rematch with [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) three years after their first encounter ended in a no contest. And in the co-headliner, [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) defends the interim heavyweight championship in a rematch with [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] (18-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) two years after a freak knee injury to Aspinall ended their first fight.
The second episode of “Embedded” follows the featured fighters while they get ready for fight week. Here is the UFC’s description of the episode from YouTube:
Belal Muhammad runs up stairs before traveling to England; Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann train together; Champ Tom Aspinall packs for the hotel; Giga Chikadze trains with Beniel Dariush; Champ Leon Edwards arrives in Manchester; King Green eats dinner.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
Fernand Lopez wants to clarify some accusations of Ciryl Gane allegedly ducking fights.
[autotag]Fernand Lopez[/autotag] wants to clarify some accusations of [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] allegedly ducking fights.
Gane (12-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) has been subject of criticism for not fighting, and Lopez thinks that notion is unfair. Lopez is both Gane’s manager and head coach.
Gane hasn’t competed since finishing Serghei Spivac last September in Paris. Interim heavyweight champion [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) revealed that before drawing [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] (18-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 304 headliner, the UFC tried to book him against Gane, but Gane declined.
Lopez says Gane did indeed turn down the fight offer for UFC 304, but only because he had already committed to filming a movie with Netflix – and the UFC was well aware of that. Lopez also denied Blaydes’ claim that Gane was offered a fight against him.
“The first and the only time that the UFC ever offered Tom Aspinall was for July (27),” Lopez told MMA Junkie. “Before that, people are messing up everything. Tom Aspinall is calling out Ciryl. When you call out someone, that doesn’t mean anything. Like Ciryl called out Tom Aspinall, and Tom Aspinall just said, ‘I don’t want you, I’m looking forward. I’m waiting for Jon Jones,’ which makes sense because you only look forward and try to have more money, more challenge.
“So, Jon Jones is the challenge for Tom Aspinall now. …If you get in the cage with Jon Jones, with Francis Ngannou, why should he be scared? I mean this is his job, but it’s only about timing, it’s only about the opportunity. No one gave me any offer for (Jailton) Almeida. No one gave me any offer for Curtis Blaydes. You can talk to Mick Maynard, Dana White, Hunter Campbell. No one gave any offer for Tom Aspinall before July (27), no one gave any offer for Curtis Blaydes. Never whatsoever. So people keep saying Ciryl is ducking, ducking. He’s not ducking anyone. If making a choice is ducking, then you don’t understand the game.”
Lopez says Gane was willing to fight Aspinall at UFC 300 in April, but Aspinall was expecting a bigger fight. By the time Gane was offered Aspinall at UFC 304, he had already committed to filming his movie.
“I asked Mick Maynard and Hunter to put Tom Aspinall for UFC 300,” Lopez explained. “But they couldn’t because Aspinall was expecting Jon Jones to accept the fight. I will not ever say Aspinall is ducking Ciryl. This guy is a monster, he’s a brave guy. But when Ciryl call him out, and he said no to Ciryl, it’s because he has a better offer. He’s expecting better. He wants for himself, for his family, for his legacy, he wants to fight Jon Jones which makes sense. I totally understand him. That’s the game. But that’s not honest for him to say Ciryl ducked him.
“Where is the proof of that? Who said that Ciryl said no to him? Ciryl never said no to him. He couldn’t fight and even when the UFC was asking, and I could show you the message. They were like, ‘We know that this is the frame of time that we gave you to do the movie, but still we are trying. Can you let down the movie and come do this?’ This is too much. Ciryl will get sued and go to court and pay tons of money to Netflix to stop that movie from going. The only offer for UFC 300 was Pavlovich and Pavlovich said no.”
Pavlovich wound up fighting Alexander Volkov last month at UFC on ABC 6, losing a unanimous decision. Now, Gane will run things back with Volkov at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi after defeating him convincingly in June 2021.
In the first episode of UFC 304 “Embedded,” Tom Aspinall and his father show off where his MMA training originally began.
The UFC is across the pond for UFC 304, and the popular “Embedded” fight week video series is here to document what’s happening behind the scenes.
UFC 304 (pay-per-view/ESPN/ESPN+) takes place Saturday at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
In the main event, welterweight champion [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] (22-3 MMA, 14-2 UFC) puts his belt on the line in a rematch with [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) three years after their first encounter ended in a no contest. And in the co-headliner, [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) defends the interim heavyweight championship in a rematch with [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] (18-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) two years after a freak knee injury to Aspinall ended their first fight.
The first episode of “Embedded” follows the featured fighters while they get ready for fight week. Here is the UFC’s description of the episode from YouTube:
Tom Aspinall trains with his dad and shows off his mural; Belal Muhammad eats, trains, and prays; Curtis Blaydes heads to the mountains; Giga Chikadze hangs out at home.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
On “Spinning Back Clique,” our panel discusses Virna Jandiroba’s title chances, Jake Paul defeating Mike Perry, UFC 304, and more.
Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.
This week’s panel of Farah Hannoun, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Matthew Wells join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate the following topics:
[autotag]Virna Jandiroba[/autotag] may have punched her ticket to a strawweight title shot with her performance in the UFC on ESPN 60 headliner. Jandiroba forced Amanda Lemos to tap from an armbar in the second round to record her fourth-straight win. Now firmly in the upper tier of the division, will she get the next crack at Zhang Weili’s title?
[autotag]Jake Paul[/autotag] picked up a win over another UFC veteran by knocking out [autotag]Mike Perry[/autotag]. Paul turned his attention to [autotag]Mike Tyson[/autotag] and even called out UFC champ [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]. Of course, [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] had a lot to say and got involved in the conversation. What should Paul do next?
UFC 304 goes down in Manchester, and two titles will be on the line. Will [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] defend his welterweight crown against [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag]? Can [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] hold on to his piece of the heavyweight throne by beating [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag]?
The “Spinning Back Clique” touches on a few other news and notes, such as the news of Movsar Evloev fighting Aljamain Sterling, Nick Diaz’s travel issues to Abu Dhabi, and UFC Marc Ratner’s comments on open scoring.
Check out the UFC 304 “Countdown” video preview offering a special look at Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes 2.
Did you miss the debut of UFC 304 “Countdown” or just want to watch it again? Check out the co-main event preview now.
The segment takes a special look at the rematch between interim heavyweight champion [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) and [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] (18-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC).
UFC 304 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) takes place Saturday at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England. “Countdown” goes behind the scenes with the two fighters, and you can watch the full segment above. And don’t miss the entire episode in the video below.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
Finally, Curtis Blaydes is getting a shot at UFC gold, but it isn’t exactly under ideal circumstances.
Finally, [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] is getting a shot at UFC gold, but it isn’t exactly under ideal circumstances.
For starters, Blaydes will compete for the interim heavyweight championship defended by Tom Aspinall at UFC 304 (ESPN+ pay-per-view) on July 27 in Manchester, England, but that doesn’t really bother him.
“In a perfect world, it’s Aspinall vs. Jon (Jones in a title unifier), but that’s not the world we live in,” Blaydes told reporters backstage this past weekend at UFC on ESPN 59 in Denver. “The UFC’s had a lot of weird, wonky matchups over the years. … It’s normal for the UFC. I’m not like, ‘Oh my God.’ It’s normal.”
What isn’t normal is a different circumstance surrounding the fight. Despite UFC 304 taking place in the U.K., the promotion is keeping the traditional pay-per-view start time of 10 p.m. ET, which is five hours behind the local time in Manchester. That means Blaydes (18-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) and Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) will face each other in the middle of the night or very early morning.
That part seems to bother Blaydes.
“The biggest difference is it’s gonna be like 4 a.m., and that’s what doesn’t really feel like a real title fight,” Blaydes said. “You wouldn’t have McGregor fight at 4 a.m. regardless of where it is in the world. That makes it feel a little less, but I don’t care. I’m getting the title-fight purse money. That’s all that matters.”
Blaydes said he’s not doing anything differently to prepare for the time change. He’ll arrive in Manchester on July 21 and go through fight week like normal.
“If I’m tired 5 minutes before they call my name, I guess that’s on me,” Blaydes said. “If you can’t get up for a title fight, you don’t deserve it. That’s my preparation.”
Blaydes, 33, has waited years for this title opportunity to come to fruition. He was on the verge in 2021 until Derrick Lewis knocked him out. But Blaydes responded by winning four of his past five fights to secure this rematch with Aspinall that means everything to him.
But it’s business as usual.
“There’s always pressure,” Blaydes said. “Nobody wants to lose. Nobody wants to get knocked out on TV in front of millions. Regardless if it was on the prelims or whatever, that’s always the pressure I have. I don’t want to lose, but there’s no extra pressure because it’s a title fight. It’s just the pressure of a fight that’s always there.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
Jon Anik wants to see Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes help clarify the state of the heavyweight division.
[autotag]Jon Anik[/autotag] wants to see [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] help clarify the state of the heavyweight division.
Interim heavyweight champion Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) runs things back with Blaydes (18-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) in the UFC 304 co-main event (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) July 27 in Manchester, England.
With Jon Jones’ first title defense vs. Stipe Miocic yet to be officially booked, Anik hopes the outcome of Aspinall vs. Blaydes helps the division finally move forward.
“Certainly a 25-minute war between Curtis Blaydes and Tom Aspinall that results in six months of recovery time wouldn’t be ideal for either party, nor would it be for MMA fans who want to see things expedited in this heavyweight division,” Anik told MMA Junkie Radio.
“It really is crazy to think about a Stipe Miocic who was 38 years old competing in there (vs. Ngannou) and we’ll next see him when he’s 42. He’s sort of the least talked about component of this bracket right now, but that seems crazy to me.”
Aspinall was eager to unify his belt with heavyweight champion Jones, but finds himself defending his interim title instead. Anik sees Aspinall as a legitimate champion.
“The interim belt is there because the undisputed title can’t be contested for whatever reason, so as far as I’m concerned, Tom Aspinall is defending the heavyweight championship against a very capable and unheralded Curtis Blaydes,” Anik said.
“I certainly am hopeful that the winner of that fight emerges relatively unscathed, not just because my car’s waiting outside and the Round 1 knockout is a broadcaster’s dream, but also because I’d like to see some pressure on this heavyweight division to move forward. There are a lot of things that are happening, and hopefully we get clarity.”
However, Anik understands why Jones was never stripped of his heavyweight title after a year-and-a-half on the sidelines due to injury.
“Tom Aspinall is ready, willing and able to show the world that he can be the undisputed heavyweight champion and the best heavyweight.” Anik said. “And there are other guys Curtis Blaydes who are ready to show that, as well, in their fighting prime, not wanting to waste any those prime months, never mind years.
“So it’s tricky when the greatest mixed martial arts athlete of all time tears his (pectoral muscle) because there’s not going to be a vacation of title and you’re certainly not going to strip the GOAT.”
