Kicking off your UFC 304 betting breakdown, the event will occur later this month at the Co-op Live venue in Manchester, England, and is headlined by two title fights. In the main event of the evening, the UFC Welterweight Championship is on the line as Leon Edwards defends his crown against Belal Muhammad. The two have squared off before, clashing last time in March 2021, but the event was declared a no-contest following an accidental eye poke, leaving the latter unable to continue. Meanwhile, an interim UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between the title holder Tom Aspinall and Curtis Blaydes is set to co-headline the show. This is also a rematch contest as the pair had previously met in July 2022 in which Blaydes won after Aspinall injured his knee fifteen seconds into the bout keeping him on the sidelines for a year.
In this article, SBS will be going over each fighter, a predicted winner in both matchups, and also some additional notes and information regarding UFC 304 betting.
UFC 304 Main Event Bouts | The Pick | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad | Edwards | -170 | -170 | -170 |
Curtis Blaydes vs. Tom Aspinall | Aspinall | -240 | -240 | -240 |
Fighter Spotlight: Leon Edwards
Entering this fight, Edwards is currently the longest-tenured champion in the organization. Moreover, he is also recognized as a top three fighter in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings. Since losing to Kamaru Usman back in December 2015, Edwards has been on a roll, notching 12 wins in a row (not including the no-contest against Muhammad), including two win revenge wins over Usman. In fact, he won the championship from his rival at UFC 278 with a spectacular head kick knockout in the final minute of the last round. Since then, he has scored two consecutive title defense wins over Usman and also Colby Covington at UFC 296. A talented combatant, he has won the majority of his fights by decision (12), but of course has surprising knockout power with seven KO victories. Moreover, he has the second-longest unbeaten streak in UFC Welterweight Division history at 13.
Fighter Spotlight: Belal Muhammad
Another tough fighter, Muhammad comes into this contest as the clear No. 1 contender in the division and is angling for a strong resolution in their matchup this time around. Like Edwards, he has been on a fantastic winning streak, scoring nine victories since January 2019. This includes two Performance of the Night outings (Takashi Sato and Sean Brady) and multiple emphatic victories. Since matching up with Edwards, he notched four unanimous decision wins to go along with the TKO victory over Brady at UFC 280. Moreover, he is tied with multiple other welterweight standouts (including the legendary Georges St-Pierre) for the most unanimous decision wins in UFC Welterweight division history at 10. He also has the second-highest takedown defense percentage in UFC Welterweight division history at 93.3%.
Prediction: A matchup that really could go either way, take Edwards to win here and secure his statement win over Muhammad.
Fighter Spotlight: Tom Aspinall
The current interim UFC Heavyweight Champion, Aspinall is also considered as a top-15 combatant in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings. With an overall record of 14-3, including 11 knockout wins, he has earned the title of champion as he makes his first title defense. In his last fight, he won the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship with a fantastic Performance of the Night showcase against Sergei Pavlovich. During this fight, he knocked out his opponent in the first round of the contest in New York City earning multiple accolades in the process. While he did lose to Blaydes last time primarily due to injury, he has rebounded nicely with two consecutive TKO victories.
Fighter Spotlight: Curtis Blaydes
A former football and wrestling star, Blaydes is a sensational athlete who is one the best in the UFC Heavyweight Division. With an overall mark of 18-4, he has 13 knockout wins to his credit along with multiple Performance of the Night showcase wins over the likes of Alistair Overeem, Chris Daukaus, and Jailton Almeida. This will of course be his revenge bout against Pavlovich after falling to him in the first round of their matchup in April of last year. A powerful fighter, he has the most takedowns landed in UFC Heavyweight history at 62 as of this article’s writing.
Prediction: Another stellar contest, take Pavlovich to retain here and score another fantastic win against his rival.
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