UFC 304 went down Saturday night from Manchester, England. Paddy Pimblett impressed with a brilliant first round submission of King Green and Tom Aspinall cemented his status as the best active UFC heavyweight, defending his interim title, as Jon Jones continues to rehab on the sideline. It was a bad night for Leon Edwards, though, as Belal Muhammad used his grappling to take the welterweight title.
Belal Muhammad wrestles his way to outwork Leon Edwards for welterweight title
It was a bad night for Leon Edwards as Belal Muhammad landed nine takedowns while also hurting Edwards on the feet in the first round. Edwards was off to a good start with an edge in the striking exchanges through the better part of Round 1 as he had success landing knees from the clinch as well as some nasty body kicks. But Muhammad took the round late as he landed an uppercut that briefly wobbled Edwards and Muhammad followed with a takedown and top control for the remainder of the round.
Muhammad also won the second round on the strength of three and a half minutes of control time after securing four takedowns in the round. Edwards bounced back nicely in the third round as he reversed a Muhammad takedown and controlled the challenger’s back for a good portion of the round as Edwards totaled over four minutes of ground control time.
Muhammad won the last two rounds with over three minutes of ground control in each of the final two frames. Edwards threatened a finish late as he reversed position and landed a nasty elbow from top position. But it was too little too late despite the strong finish for the former champion.
UFC brass likely were not too thrilled with the outcome as Muhamad is not a popular fighter and had to work his way to the title opportunity with a nine fight unbeaten streak. Edwards, who had defended the title twice, stated after the fight that he felt tired all week and it certainly showed. Edwards stated his intention to fight one more time before the end of 2024.
Tom Aspinall impressed with quick TKO victory over Curtis Blaydes
Tom Aspinall continued his tear through the UFC heavyweight division after putting Curtis Blaydes on the canvas with a stiff jab and getting the TKO finish at 1:00 of Round 1 as he followed with several vicious ground strikes.
Just prior to the finishing sequence, Blaydes landed a solid right hand, but Apsinall ate it well before dropping and pouncing on Blaydes. Blaydes appeared to briefly protest the stoppage but it was the right decision as Blaydes took several hard shots and appeared to not be intelligently defending himself as he was face down on the canvas.
Prior to the bout UFC boss Dana White said the winner of this bout would get the winner of the upcoming Jone Jones and Stipe Miocic bout. Assuming the legendary Jones gets though that fight the UFC has a massive heavyweight fight with Aspinall looking like a legitimate threat to “Bones”.
Paddy Pimblett puts King Green to sleep with slick display of jiu-jitsu
Paddy Pimblett put on an outstanding performance in his toughest UFC test to date with a quick finish of tough veteran King Green. Pimblett looked useful on the feet early as he landed several hard leg kicks as well as a solid left hand. Pimblett had challenged Green to grapple with him and Green unwisely complied as he shot a takedown early in Round 1. Pimblett immediately attacked a guillotine but slickly transitioned into a tight triangle before rolling and as the triangle got deeper. The Scouser applied an armbar to the triangle as Green quickly went to sleep.
Pimblett, who earned a performance bonus with the beautiful submission, is now a perfect 6-0 in the UFC as he improved his overall MMA record to 22-3. Pimblett is surely now in line for a big fight after this performance as he looks to climb the lightweight rankings.
Gregory Rodrigues takes unanimous decision over Christian Leroy Duncan
Gregory Rodrigues appears to be a problem for the middleweight division and will likely be ranked in the top 15 after a solid win over talented striker Christian Leroy Duncan. Rodrigues won in all phases, however, as he continually walked down and out-struck and out-grappled Duncan.
Rodrigues took Duncan down in all three rounds and totaled over eight minutes of control time via four takedowns. “Robocop” has now finished his last three UFC opponents as he looks to ascend the 185 pound rankings.
Arnold Allen gets back on track with solid win over Giga Chikadze
Arnold Allen had lost two straight in the UFC’s deep and talented featherweight division, albeit to two of the division’s best in Movsar Evloev and the legendary Max Holloway. Giga Chikadze started strong and won a close first round as he displayed his beautiful striking technique and edged with Englishman landing power and utilizing his speed and footwork.
Allen though had his moments landing in the opening frame but started to separate himself from “Ninja” with his heavy forward pressure and strong boxing. Allen began wearing down Chikadze as he more consistently found a home for his left hand. In the third round, Allen outlanded Chikadze 32 to 11 in significant strikes having clearly worn down the Georgian.