The UFC returns to England in July, and two titles will be on the line in rematches.
UFC 304 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) is set for July 27 at Co-op Live in Manchester. It will be the promotion’s first visit to England’s second largest city in nearly eight years. Earlier this week, the UFC released the event’s official poster, and it features all four headliners.
In the headliner, England’s own [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) defends his welterweight title in a rematch against [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC). Muhammad will attempt to become the first Palestinian to win a UFC title.
Muhammad has been waiting more than three years for another shot at Edwards. They fought in March 2021, but the main event ended in a no contest when Muhammad was poked in the eye and was unable to continue. Edwards won the title two fights later against Kamaru Usman in a big upset, then beat him in a rematch to defend it and beat Colby Covington this past December, as well.
In the co-feature, England’s [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) will defend his interim heavyweight title for the first time in a rematch against [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] (18-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC). Champion Jon Jones has been out with an injury and is expected to fight former champ Stipe Miocic upon his return, not interim champ Aspinall.
In their first meeting, Blaydes won by TKO in just 15 seconds when Aspinall blew out his knee nearly two years ago. That led to a lengthy recovery and rehab, but he won the interim belt two fights into his return. Aspinall has had just one of his 14 wins go out of the first round.
Check out the UFC 304 poster below.
The latest UFC 304 lineup includes:
- Champ Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad – for welterweight title
- Interim champ Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes – for interim heavyweight title
- Bobby Green vs. Paddy Pimblett
- Manel Kape vs. Muhammad Mokaev
- Arnold Allen vs. Giga Chikadze
- Daniel Pineda vs. Nathaniel Wood
- Oban Elliott vs. Preston Parsons
- Shauna Bannon vs. Ravena Oliveira
- Bruna Brasil vs. Molly McCann
- Caolan Loughran vs. Ramon Taveras
- Lukasz Brzeski vs. Mick Parkin
- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Marcin Prachnio
- Kiefer Crosbie vs. Sam Patterson
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.