The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the UK this weekend for a pay-per-view event, but local fans will have to put up with a fairly late start time.
Two title fights have been confirmed for the top card of UFC 304. In the main event, Leon Edwards will defend his welterweight title against Belal Muhammad, while in the co-main event, interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall will face Curtis Blaydes, who last defeated him. All four participants in the title fights made it to weigh-in, with the exception of bantamweight contender Jake Hadley, who weighed in at 137 pounds for his bout with Caolan Loughran. Hadley will be fined a percentage of his prize money as a result.
Edwards (22-3, 1 NC) previously fought Muhammad to a no-contest after an accidental poke in the eye early in the second round caused the bout to be stopped. “Rocky” was completely dominant up to that point and will be looking for a decision win in the rematch. The British fighter has won four times since their last fight, winning the title from Kamaru Usman and then defending it twice since. In his last bout, he dominated Colby Covington in five rounds. The 32-year-old was weighing in at 170 pounds at the time of the weigh-in.
UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammed, Saturday at 10pm ET on ESPN+. Order now! Muhammed (23-3, 1 no-contest) is looking to force UFC fans to “remember his name” by becoming a champion. Since the no-contest, the Chicago fighter has won five straight. With wins over Gilbert Burns, Shawn Brady and Vicente Luque, a title fight can’t be ruled out. After a 2021 bout that ended in a no-contest, Muhammed will be looking for revenge against Edwards. Muhammed officially weighed in at 169 pounds for his first UFC title fight.
UFC 304 prelims begin at 6:15pm ET/3:15pm PT on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass, followed by broadcasts at 8pm ET/5pm PT on ESPN+ and ESPN2 and pay-per-view on ESPN+ at 10pm ET/7pm PT.
UFC 304 Weigh-in Results:
Leon Edwards (170) vs. Belal Muhammad (169)
Tom Aspinall (251) vs. Curtis Blaydes (256)
Bobby Green (154.5) vs. Paddy Pimblett (156)
Christian Leroy Duncan (185) vs. Gregory Rodriguez (185)
Arnold Allen (145) vs. Giga Chikadze (146)
Daniel Pineda (146) vs. Nathaniel Wood (145)
Bruna Brasil (116) vs. Molly McCann (115)
Jake Hadley (137)* vs. Caolan Laurent (136)
Modestas Bukauskas (204) vs. Marcin Prachnio (205)
Oban Elliott (170) vs. Preston Parsons (169)
Manel Kape (125.5) vs. Muhammad Mokaev (126)
Kieffer Crosby (171) vs. Sam Patterson (170)
Lukasz Brzeski (235) vs. Michael Parkin (264)
Alice Ardelen (116) vs. Shauna Bannon (115)
*Hadley was found to be one pound underweight and will be fined a percentage of her prize money.
