The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Manchester for the first time since 2016. The last event in ‘The Rainy City' was UFC 204 when Michael Bisping was still the middleweight champion. This time, we have Leon Edwards defending his welterweight title against Belal Muhammad. Let's take a look at some early Edwards vs Muhammad predictions.
UFC 304 Predictions: Our Top Three Picks
Edwards vs Muhammad Prediction
It is fair to say that this is one of the least anticipated main events this year. Few fighters have received as much negativity as Belal Muhammad in recent years but Leon Edwards is close behind him. Fans dislike the fact that these two fighters are specialists in their craft and prefer to rely on a safer and more technical approach. Simply said, people call them boring.
Both Edwards and Muhammad have two finishes in the last eight years each. Individually, it is hard to expect an early finish when they fight. But when faced against each other, we may actually see a different scenario.
While Leon Edwards has a black belt in BJJ, he is a distinguished striker and would rather keep the fight standing if possible. Belal has a great sense of distance and the technical skills to fight on par with most strikers. However, he prefers to take the fights to the ground and will be trying to set up a takedown from the first minute.
This will be intense clash between two of the most technical fighters in the UFC. But we feel like Leon Edwards is the more complete fighter. We have to side with him for our Edwards vs Muhammad predictions.
Let's not forget that the two already fought once in 2021 and while the fight ended with an unfortunate eye poke, Edwards dominated Muhammad throughout the entire time they spent in the Octagon.
Aspinall vs Blaydes Prediction
If you ask us, Jon Jones should have been stripped from his belt already and Aspinall promoted to regular heavyweight champion. The Briton is being held back due to the obvious favoritism towards ‘Bones'.
Aspinall will have to defend the Interim Heavyweight title against Curtis Blaydes in a long-anticipated rematch. In a way, this shouldn't even count as a rematch because their first fight lasted exactly 15 seconds. Tom suffered one of the worst knee injuries we have ever seen, one that almost ended his career.
Tom returned a year later and proved once again that he is the main contender for the title. Two wins with 1st round knockouts over Marcin Tybura and Sergei Pavlovich made him the Interim champ.
This will be a quick one and one of the two will potentially win Performance of the Night. Tom Aspinall has never fought more than a round and a half in his career and has 11 knockouts and 3 submissions in 14 wins. Blaydes has more experience with long fights but 19 of his 23 bouts ended ahead of schedule too.
We have to pick an under for our UFC 304 predictions. Under 2.5 rounds feels like the best option for this bout.
There have been a lot of news surrounding these two. On one side, Green changed his legal name from Bobby to King. On the other, Paddy Pimblett just became a father of twins.
Anyhow, this is an important match for Paddy as he finally gets the opportunity to break into the Top 15 of the division. It feels like he was supposed to be high in the rankings a long time ago but he only fought once since December 2022. He last fought Tony Ferguson and won via decision in December 2023.
King Green remains one of the most active fighters on the roster and he accepts every fight, regardless of the opponent. He fought 3 times in 2022, 4 in 2023, and faced Jim Miller at UFC 300 in April 2024. He clearly doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon despite being 37 years old and he still possesses the skills and power to be a problem for most.
Nevertheless, we have to side with ‘The Baddy' for our Edwards vs Muhammad predictions. He has been posting tons of videos from his training and we like what we see. Surprisingly, Green is the betting favorite, which gives us a great opportunity to bet on high odds. Forget about knockouts and submissions, the risk is too great. Just bet on the moneyline this time.
And if the three fights above are not convincing enough, there is a brutally stacked card to watch before you even reach the final three. The events in England are often among the best of the year and we have high expectations for UFC 304.
Vlad is a former amateur MMA fighter. After a series of injuries, he found a different way to connect with the sport and its fanbase - through writing. He's been covering everything-UFC for over 5 years on various platforms and has been part of the team at NYFights since early 2022.
