Quick results
Main Card (10 p.m. ET) (PPV)
- Belal Muhammad def. Leon Edwards via Decision, Unanimous (UFC Welterweight Championship)
- Tom Aspinall def. Curtis Blaydes via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:00) (Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship)
- Paddy Pimblett def. Bobby Green via Submission, Triangle Choke (RD 1, 3:22)
- Gregory Rodrigues def. Christian Leroy Duncan via Decision, Unanimous
- Arnold Allen def. Giga Chikadze via Decision, Unanimous
Preliminary Card (8 p.m. ET) (ESPN2 / ESPN+)
- Nathaniel Wood def. Daniel Pineda via Decision, Unanimous
- Bruna Brasil def. Molly McCann via Decision, Unanimous
- Jake Hadley def. Caolan Loughran via Decision, Unanimous
- Muhammad Mokaev def. Manel Kape via Decision, Unanimous
Early Prelims (6 p.m. ET) (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
- Oban Elliott def. Preston Parsons via Decision, Unanimous
- Modestas Bukauskas def. Marcin Prachnio via Submission, Arm Triangle Choke (RD 3, 3:12)
- Sam Patterson def. Kiefer Crosbie via Submission, Arm Triangle Choke (RD 1, 2:50)
- Mick Parkin def. Lukasz Brzeski via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 3:23)
- Shauna Bannon def. Alice Ardelean via Decision, Split
Belal Muhammad controls Leon Edwards, captures UFC welterweight title in unanimous decision
Belal Muhammad dethroned England’s own Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC 304 in Manchester, using ground control to earn a unanimous decision result and snag the promotion’s welterweight title.
The victory headlined a pay-per-view card from the Co-op Live, with the main event wrapping up at the early morning local time of 6 a.m.
Muhammad had a hot start against Edwards, clearly snagging the first two rounds on scorecards. He earned numerous minutes of ground control and landed the higher volume of strikes, both through fiery stand-up exchanges and shots on the ground.
Edwards picked up what was possibly his only round on some scorecards in the third frame. The defending champ got on the back of Muhammad early in the round, then picked up more than four minutes of control in total before the round came to a close.
Muhammad regained a hold of the fight in the fourth round, getting on the back of Edwards to secure a crucial third round on scorecards. Heading into the fifth it seemed likely that a finish was necessary for Edwards to retain his belt.
Edwards showed some life in the final minute of the bout, escaping a back position that Muhammad took and moving into full guard. From this spot he scored with elbows that opened a significant cut on the bridge of Muhammad’s nose, providing the biggest injury of the fight. However, he damage didn’t do enough to put away Muhammad, marking the end of Edwards’ first run with the belt.
Muhammad finally sits atop the welterweight division following a long climb to a title fight. The 36-year-old put together nine wins since 2019, including recent performances against Gilbert Burns and Sean Brady which launched him into the title picture.
After the fight, Muhammad stated support for the people of Palestine, whom he had represented all fight week.
“This is for my people in Palestine,” Muhammad, who is of Palestinian descent, said. “They’re fighting the real fight … I’m just trying to do my part.”
Edwards held the UFC Welterweight Championship for nearly two years, first earning the title with a dramatic fifth-round knockout of Kamaru Usman in 2022. He later defended the belt in a rematch against Usman and beat Colby Covington in a lopsided five-round bout.
Afterward, Edwards mentioned that fatigue played a part in his performance. “All week I’ve been feeling tired,” he said.
Tom Aspinall puts away Curtis Blaydes in 60 seconds
Tom Aspinall needed just a minute to defend his interim UFC Heavyweight Championship, putting away veteran Curtis Blaydes with punches in the opening seconds of their title fight on Saturday night.
Aspinall – who has long been known for his explosive boxing skills – dropped Blaydes early in the bout with a clean short left jab. The English champ was quick to follow up on this blow, following a stunned Blaydes to the ground with punches from the back position.
The flurry of strikes caused referee Mark Goddard to step in and stop the fight, continuing Aspinall’s championship reign. The finish was immediately disputed by Blaydes, although the challenger looked to be less annoyed by the result as it was read out by Bruce Buffer later on.
The result only furthered a finish-heavy resume for Aspinall. All eight of his UFC victories have come via finish, and only one performance has escaped the opening round. When he captured the interim title late last year, he needed just 69 seconds to shut down Russian contender Sergei Pavlovich with strikes.
The outcome of Saturday’s co-main event fight avenged the sole UFC loss that Aspinal has taken, which was the result of a freak knee injury that he took in a main event fight against Blaydes in 2022.
Blaydes entered this weekend following a second-round finish of Jailton Almeida in March, making him a leading contender for a title opportunity. While he has been in the mix against heavyweight’s top names for years, Saturday was his first time challenging for a UFC title.
After the fight, Aspinall turned his attention to a title unification bout against main heavyweight champ Jon Jones.
“Hello Jon,” Aspinall said in his post-fight interview. “I have nothing against you personally, but I think I’m just better than you.”
UFC created an interim title last year after an injury forced Jones out of his championship fight against Stipe Miocic. It remains unclear when Jones will fight next, and who he might face.
Paddy Pimblett chokes out Bobby Green early, possibly securing lightweight ranking spot
Paddy Pimblett prevailed in the biggest test of his UFC career thus far, choking out veteran Bobby Green in the first round to keep his undefeated promotional record intact and set up for a potential spot in the lightweight rankings.
Pimblett put Green to sleep with a triangle choke early in the bout, finding the submission after getting the best of a takedown attempt from his opponent. The English fighter held his own on the feet prior to the moment of grappling, potentially leading to Green’s takedown attempt.
The victory could put Pimblett into the #15 spot at lightweight, a position that Green inhabited heading into UFC 304. Pimblett had scored five victories in the promotion before Saturday, beating many lower-ranked UFC fighters and most notably overcoming Tony Ferguson late last year.
After the fight, Pimblett addressed critics who thought he would never become a ranked lightweight, asking if they would “move the goalposts” again on his accomplishments. “Statement made b******,” he said, before calling out Renato Moicano for his next booking.
Green was a tough test for Pimblett, as he entered with decades of experience and recent success that proved he was still a hard opponent to face in the division. This weekend he was coming off a dominant win from earlier this year, brutally beating up Jim Miller for three rounds at UFC 300.
Gregory Rodrigues gets past Christian Leroy Duncan for third consecutive middleweight win
Gregory Rodrigues executed a solid wrestling-heavy gameplan against Christian Leroy Duncan, earning him the first three-fight winning streak of his UFC career.
Rodrigues showed his well-roundedness by using both his striking skills and wrestling abilities to control Leroy Duncan for all three rounds of their middleweight clash. The bout moved at a pedestrian pace throughout, with the crowd remaining hushed as the Brazilian contender beat one of the country’s own.
While Rodrigues has fought nine times in the UFC, Saturday marked the first instance in his run with the promotion where he has put together a trio of victories. Over the past year he previously also scored stoppage wins against veteran Brad Tavares and Denis Tiuliulin.
After his win, Rodrigues mentioned his hope to compete for a spot in the middleweight division’s standings next.
“Hey Dana [White], Hunter [Campbell], I just showed tonight that the UFC has levels,” he said during his post-fight interview. “I want to fight for the ranks, and I want to be the champ in this division.”
Former Cage Warriors champ Leroy Duncan walked into this weekend after a pair of finish victories as of late on lower-profile UFC cards.
Arnold Allen bounces back with striking showcase
Arnold Allen resumed his climb up the featherweight rankings in the opening bout of the main card, out-striking Giga Chikadze to earn all three rounds on scorecards.
Allen pressured Chikadze throughout the fight, constantly backing up the Georgian contender with his boxing skills. Allen landed the higher output of shots for most rounds and caused noticeable damage to the face of Chikadze on the way.
Chikadze’s best moment came early, brushing the head of Allen with a vicious flying knee. The move will likely be remembered as a “What if?” scenario, as a cleaner connection from Chikadze likely would have significantly hurt or even stopped Allen.
However, beyond that point, it felt like a strong showcase of Allen’s skillset on the feet, and the bout’s result felt like a foregone conclusion before the scorecards were even read.
The fight put Allen back into the win column after suffering a pair of high-profile losses at featherweight. In recent years he dropped fights to former champ Max Holloway and rising contender Movsar Evloev. However, due to both defeats coming against some of the division’s best, Allen still had the strong weight class ranking of sixth heading into this weekend.
Chikadze was looking to add a significant win to his record that would move him above his current 10th-place spot in the weight class. He has mostly won at 145 pounds in recent years but previously had his run up the rankings slowed by an early 2022 loss to Calvin Kattar. Saturday gave him another significant setback on the road to a potential title shot.
Prelim results: Molly McCann suffers first strawweight loss, Muhammad Mokaev remains undefeated
Nathaniel Wood’s stand-up skills were on display in the featured prelim, landing brutal shots against tough veteran Daniel Pineda to win on scorecards. While Wood connected with a large volume of strikes, causing the right eye of Pineda to swell significantly, his opponent’s toughness was on display by enduring staying in the fight and going to scorecards. Pineda even won the final round of the fight, using ground control to stop the attacks coming from Wood. The fight was a bounce-back win for Wood, who had a three-fight streak of victories snapped last year by Naimov.
England’s Molly McCann took her first strawweight loss on Saturday evening, struggling greatly against the dominant striking skills of opponent Bruna Brasil and ultimately not being favored in a unanimous decision result. McCann was dropped numerous times and nearly finished due to body kicks in the first round and continued to get hit with clean shots by the Brazilian prospect later in the fight. McCann had won her debut at the 115-pound weight class just earlier in the year, submitting Diana Belbita with an armbar.
Short-notice fighter Jake Hadley scored a big victory, putting an end to his two-fight losing streak with a unanimous decision win against Caolan Loughran. Hadley out-landed his opponent, scoring him a victory up a weight class from the 125-pound limit at which he usually competes. Loughran was hoping to follow-up on his first UFC win, which occurred in March.
Muhammad Mokaev remained undefeated on Saturday night, prevailing in a grudge match against fellow top-10-ranked flyweight Manel Kape. Mokaev landed the better shots in a very low-output fight, earning him the nod after 15 minutes. Despite their fight being slow and calculated, Mokaev and Kape had bad blood heading into this weekend and seemed eager to collide. The flyweights notably got into a physical altercation earlier in the week and had to be separated by security during their intros on Saturday night. Sixth-ranked 125-pound fighter Mokaev has now earned seven wins since joining the UFC in 2022.
Oban Elliott had a stellar showcase against Preston Parsons, out-landing the American fighter and using his stellar sprawling skills to stop himself from losing control. Elliott has now won seven consecutive fights, including his UFC debut in February against Val Woodburn. Parsons’ UFC record is now a sub-500 two wins and three losses.
Former Cage Warriors Light Heavyweight Champion Modestas Bukauskas returned to the win column, getting past a brawl against Marcin Pracnio on the feet to late find an arm triangle choke submission in the third round. Bukauskas’ current UFC stint now has three wins through four appearances, a much better run than his one-for-four stretch of bouts in the promotion from 2020 to 2021.
Sam Patterson added another quick win to his record on Saturday night, tapping out Bellator vet Kiefer Crosbie in the first round with an arm triangle choke. Patterson has now won back-to-back UFC fights via first-round submission, with his previous victory coming against Yohan Lainesse in January. Crosbie is winless through a pair of UFC bouts, with his prior outing coming against Kevin Jousset.
Mick Parkin earned the first finish win of his UFC career on Saturday night, putting away Lukasz Brzeski in the first round with a series of hard punches. Parkin dropped Brzeski with a two-shot combination of a left hand and a right hook, then closed the show with ground and pound shots. Parkin had previously earned three decision wins in the UFC, including a March victory over The Ultimate Fighter winner Mohammed Usman. Brzeski’s UFC run has overall been unsuccessful thus far, winning just one of his five fights in the promotion.
Shauna Bannon got her hand raised in the Octagon for the first time this weekend, overcoming short-notice opponent Alice Ardelean via split decision. While Ardelean was able to wrestle Bannon to the ground many times in the fight, Bannon notched rounds by being the much more active striker and grappler in every position. Invicta FC alum Bannon was coming back following a loss in her UFC debut last year against Bruna Brasil. Action-heavy fighter Ardelean joined the promotion’s roster by taking this fight just a few weeks back, trying for her sixth straight victory in the performance.
