A 14-fight card at UFC 304 in Manchester, England, was headlined by a pair of title bout rematches. Belal Muhammad dethroned Leon Edwards to become the new welterweight champion. In the co-main event, Tom Aspinall made quick work of Curtis Blaydes, leaving no doubt that he's 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 Leon Edwards to put on a starry performance. It was early into Sunday morning -- with the sun still down -- but the fans at Co-op Live arena were fully awake and ready to cheer on a show after just having watched two other local heroes, Tom Aspinall and Paddy Pimblett, score rousing first-round finishes.
Edwards did not send the locals home happy, though. It wasn't simply because he lost his UFC welterweight championship to Belal Muhammad. By the time the decision was being read, the sun was rising in Manchester, but the energy in the building had already been deadened. The main event had primarily played out with the challenger in dominant positions on the canvas or in clinches, as he piled up over 12 minutes of control time. Muhammad never seriously threatened a finish, but he gave Edwards little opportunity for a big performance and the British fans little reason to cheer.
This was precisely what Muhammad had said he was going to do. But it seemed unlikely, given that Edwards' past three fights had been against strong wrestlers -- Kamaru Usman twice and Colby Covington -- and the champ had mostly kept those fights standing, where he is most dangerous. Even when Edwards and Muhammad first met in 2021, in a bout that ended early in Round 2 as a no-contest after an eye poke rendered Muhammad unable to continue, Edwards had kept the fight in positions where he could get the better of it.
Not this time. Although Edwards had a big third round, getting a takedown early and threatening a submission until the horn, and although he turned around the final round and landed a late elbow that left Muhammad's face bloody, the soon-to-be-dethroned champ was unable to generate consistent offense. His title reign just petered out.
So now Muhammad is the latest everyman to own a UFC belt, following in the footsteps of guys such as Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis, fighters who put on championship-winning performances but lack the star power the UFC brass craves. Muhammad deserves all the accolades for this victory, but will those accolades come his way?
The UFC star-building machine has never exactly embraced Edwards. So good luck to Muhammad, who had waited a long time before being given his shot. He had to go on a 10-fight unbeaten run before getting a date with Edwards. He made the most of it on this night, but the smothering style in which he secured his title would have made this fight a yawner even if it weren't playing out in front of his opponent's home fans and the sleepy hours of the night. -- Wagenheim
Is Jon Jones going to answer the phone for Tom Aspinall?
Tom Aspinall tells Jon Jones he's better than him after his quick win over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304.
Hale: All Aspinall needed was one minute to avenge the lone blemish on his UFC record by annihilating Blaydes. Outside of Ciryl Gane, there's nobody else left for Aspinall to fight who would present a reasonable threat.
Aside from the TKO loss due to injury, Aspinall has wiped out the upper crust of the heavyweight division with little to no resistance. Aspinall's past three fights against Blaydes, Sergei Pavlovich and Marcin Tybura have lasted a grand total of three minutes and 22 seconds, with none going longer than 90 seconds. Aspinall entered the Octagon with an average fight time of 2:10, the shortest in UFC history. The 60 seconds it took to dispatch Blaydes will extend his lead.
For what it's worth, Jones has every right to ignore the call and ride off into the sunset when he presumably beats Stipe Miocic in November. It probably won't diminish his stature as the greatest mixed martial artist, considering that he has much more to lose than gain in a fight with Aspinall.
However, if he wants to prove that he's still the best fighter in the world, Jones will have to answer the toughest challenge of his UFC career against a man who is bigger, faster and more powerful than anybody he has ever shared an Octagon with.
As big as a fight between Jones and Francis Ngannou was thought to be, the threat of Aspinall has eclipsed that and made Jones-Aspinall the biggest fight that can be made in the UFC, outside of anything Conor McGregor.
Paddy Pimblett was always this good
Paddy Pimblett electrifies the Manchester crowd with an incredible submission win at UFC 304.
Okamoto: Here's how you know Pimblett has done his job when it comes to getting people to care about him -- the overreactions to his performances.
When he beat Jared Gordon, in a fight many scored for Gordon, it seemed like fans and pundits alike couldn't wait to jump off the bandwagon. When he failed to finish a veteran in Tony Ferguson, the "overrated" narrative grew. And then, after one (albeit) fantastic submission victory over King Green, all of a sudden social media is flooded with "Paddy is the real deal" comments?
The sport as a whole is swinging way too wide with every Pimblett performance. What did he do Saturday that we didn't know he could do? We know he has a dangerous ground game. We know he tends to rise up when the spotlight is at its brightest. This isn't to downplay his past exploits. The exact opposite, actually.
It was the best win of his UFC career to date. But why are we treating it like it showed us something we were oblivious to? I knew Pimblett could perform like this, and I think the UFC knew it, too. The top of the division is still going to be tough for Pimblett. It was always going to be. The question of how far he can go is still out there. And perhaps for some, this last performance shows he's for real, but I was under the impression we already knew he was.