UFC 304 was topped by a pair of title fights featuring British champs and local favorites, though as the card played out, the two scraps could not have ended more differently.
Tom Aspinall, the promotion’s interim heavyweight champ in the absence of Jon Jones, took all of a minute to finish Curtis Blaydes in the co-headliner. A rematch of their first encounter in 2022, which saw Aspinall fall to a leg injury, there was no such misfortune this time. Instead, Aspinall was firing on all cylinders, and both legs, knocking out Blaydes in a minute.
“Razor” Blaydes protested the stoppage, which started with a jab and ended with ground n’ pound. Yet he had little ammunition behind his argument; even if early, he had failed to defend himself.
The main event between Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad was a much different affair. Also a rematch of a fight that ended early when Muhammad suffered an eye poke, three years later, the story played out much differently. Muhammad put on a well-rounded performance, punching his way in and landing numerous takedowns, only allowing champ Leon Edwards (now a former welterweight champ) one round on the scorecards, or two depending on the judge.
Following UFC 304, tune in above for the night’s post-fight press conference.
