UFC 304 - Manchester England with Leon/Belal, Aspinall/Blaydes

Post #1 » by **Clav** » Wed Jul 24, 2024 8:13 pm

UFC 304 (6PM EST early prelims / PM EST prelims / 10PM EST Main card)

In Manchester this weekend. It's a super late start / Local time, the early-PRELIMS begin at 11PM. Prelims at 1AM, and Main Card begins at 3AM local time. The Main Event might be starting at 5AM local time... yikes~~ There are loads of UK themed bouts like a normal home-card. But the home fans will have to stay out super late to see Aspinall fight :lol:

Spoiler:

GoRapstheoriginal · Post #2 » by **GoRapstheoriginal** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 1:33 am

Clav wrote:UFC 304 (6PM EST early prelims / PM EST prelims / 10PM EST Main card)

In Manchester this weekend. It's a super late start / Local time, the early-PRELIMS begin at 11PM. Prelims at 1AM, and Main Card begins at 3AM local time. The Main Event might be starting at 5AM local time... yikes~~ There are loads of UK themed bouts like a normal home-card. But the home fans will have to stay out super late to see Aspinall fight

That's insane right ?

For me, a Pacific US resident, it's' a lot more agreeable, but I'd rather they not start fights so late for both fans and fighters. The fighters normally wake up at 5 AM, not end their day at 5AM. For attendees, how can a normal person do this ? Kind of bizarre in all senses.

Anyway, here's the fight card and my predictions:

Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad II
MAIN EVENT | UFC WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP | 170 LBS | 5 ROUNDS

Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes II
CO-MAIN EVENT | UFC INTERIM HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP | 265 LBS | 5 ROUNDS

Bobby Green vs. Paddy Pimblett
MAIN CARD | LIGHTWEIGHT · 155 LBS | PRO MMA | 3 ROUNDS

Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Gregory Rodrigues
MAIN CARD | MIDDLEWEIGHT · 185 LBS | PRO MMA | 3 ROUNDS

Arnold Allen vs. Giga Chikadze
MAIN CARD | FEATHERWEIGHT · 145 LBS | PRO MMA | 3 ROUNDS

Nathaniel Wood vs. Daniel Pineda
PRELIMINARY CARD | FEATHERWEIGHT · 145 LBS | PRO MMA | 3 ROUNDS

Molly McCann vs. Bruna Brasil
PRELIMINARY CARD | STRAWWEIGHT · 115 LBS | PRO MMA | 3 ROUNDS

Caolán Loughran vs. Jake Hadley
PRELIMINARY CARD | BANTAMWEIGHT · 135 LBS | PRO MMA | 3 ROUNDS

Modestas Bukauskas vs. Marcin Prachnio
PRELIMINARY CARD | LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT · 205 LBS | PRO MMA | 3 ROUNDS

Oban Elliott vs. Preston Parsons
PRELIMINARY CARD | WELTERWEIGHT · 170 LBS | PRO MMA | 3 ROUNDS

Muhammad Mokaev vs. Manel Kape
PRELIMINARY CARD | FLYWEIGHT · 125 LBS | PRO MMA | 3 ROUNDS

Sam Patterson vs. Kiefer Crosbie
PRELIMINARY CARD | WELTERWEIGHT · 170 LBS | PRO MMA | 3 ROUNDS

Mick Parkin vs. Łukasz Brzeski
PRELIMINARY CARD | HEAVYWEIGHT · 265 LBS | PRO MMA | 3 ROUNDS

Shauna Bannon vs. Alice Ardelean
PRELIMINARY CARD | STRAWWEIGHT · 115 LBS | PRO MMA | 3 ROUNDS

My picks
Spoiler:
Edwards | Decision
Aspinall | KO/TKO | Round 1
Green | KO/TKO | Round 1
Rodrigues | KO/TKO | Round 2
Allen | KO/TKO | Round 3
Wood | KO/TKO | Round 3
McCann | KO/TKO | Round 2
Loughran | Decision
Bukauskas | Decision
Elliott | Decision
Mokaev | Submission | Round 1
Patterson | Submission | Round 2
Parkin | Decision
Bannon | Decision

Thank you for answering this question about the UK local start times.

I was going like what the F*ck is going on here! Hahahah! Giving the UK MMA Fans the short end of the stick here! LMAO!

I f*cking love it as Eastern Time zone. It's f*cking perfect for me.

Only other thing going will be Olympics. Blue Jays play 3:07 pm ET on that day/Saturday.

Post #3 » by **Clav** » Thu Jul 25, 2024 3:36 pm

They did the same thing for the Bisping fight in the past but I didn't watch that one live so I didn't remember it until now. Olympics are my only big catch as I sparingly watch baseball / MNTwins, mostly around playoff time lol

should be perfect for me too bc I'll be moving furniture in the morning and can come back and relax. gonna get a pizza.

cowboyronnie · Post #4 » by **cowboyronnie** » Fri Jul 26, 2024 3:03 am

Oct 2023: Free speech absolutist, Dana White: "If any flags hurt your feelings, too f****** bad.” He repeals the flag ban. Resultingly, Micheal Pereira (Brazilian) comes out in an Israel flag.

Two weeks later, though... Islam Machachaev asks to use the Palestinian flag at ufc 294: oops, flags are banned again (for a single event).

Fast forward to this upcoming weekend...
Belal Muhammed currently just has *no flag* under his image on this weekend's fight card. None. Everyone else does, him none. That country? Palestine.

Is it because he's American by nationality, and merely his parents that are from Palestine? Nope. Mackenzie Dern wasn't born in Brazil. But her fight 2 weeks from now has her with a Brazialian flag.

Interesting how free speech isn't always so absolute.

Post #5 » by **Clav** » Fri Jul 26, 2024 8:15 am

cowboyronnie wrote:Oct 2023: Free speech absolutist, Dana White: "If any flags hurt your feelings, too f****** bad.” He repeals the flag ban. Resultingly, Micheal Pereira (Brazilian) comes out in an Israel flag.

Two weeks later, though... Islam Machachaev asks to use the Palestinian flag at ufc 294: oops, flags are banned again (for a single event).

Fast forward to this upcoming weekend...
Belal Muhammed currently just has *no flag* under his image on this weekend's fight card. None. Everyone else does, him none. That country? Palestine.

Is it because he's American by nationality, and merely his parents that are from Palestine? Nope. Mackenzie Dern wasn't born in Brazil. But her fight 2 weeks from now has her with a Brazialian flag.

Interesting how free speech isn't always so absolute.

I am constantly surprised how the nation of representation are (or are not) showcased in the UFC. Even some fighters, like MVP recently, from UK... had no flag next to his name. Fighters like Basharat from Afghanistan [ though relocated to elsewhere ] also face the same treatment. It's very strange. UFC should show these flags on the broadcast, and Dern is a great example of a fighter that has received a flag despite not being born in that country. Free speech isn't always free, UFC is a prime example of that and the point is very cogent.

GoRapstheoriginal · Post #6 » by **GoRapstheoriginal** » Sat Jul 27, 2024 11:37 pm

Great early prelims so far, have to watch on streameast though. F*ck UFC Fight pass.

Post #7 » by **Clav** » Sun Jul 28, 2024 12:13 am

GoRapstheoriginal wrote:Great early prelims so far, have to watch on streameast though. F*ck UFC Fight pass.

You and me both lol

Some nice fights so far, and Kape Mokaev coming up should be ab anger. cheers!

GoRapstheoriginal · Post #8 » by **GoRapstheoriginal** » Sun Jul 28, 2024 3:48 am

Oh WOW Paddy! :O!

Dupp · Post #9 » by **Dupp** » Sun Jul 28, 2024 3:53 am

Green shooting on paddy one of the lowest iq moves I’ve ever seen

GoRapstheoriginal · Post #10 » by **GoRapstheoriginal** » Sun Jul 28, 2024 4:07 am

Excited for both of these title fights!

GoRapstheoriginal · Post #11 » by **GoRapstheoriginal** » Sun Jul 28, 2024 4:11 am

WWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!

GoRapstheoriginal · Post #12 » by **GoRapstheoriginal** » Sun Jul 28, 2024 4:17 am

Whose the top 3 heavyweights contenders right now?

Post #13 » by **Prez** » Sun Jul 28, 2024 4:18 am

Tommy Aspinall is the best HW in the world. Dana White/the UFC giving into Jon Jones' bull **** with this idiotic Stipe matchup is so infuriating. Jon knows Tom is where his undefeated legacy dies and he's doing everything in his power to avoid it. Which makes sense from his side but Dana/the UFC feeding into it makes it so much more annoying.

Dupp · Post #14 » by **Dupp** » Sun Jul 28, 2024 6:04 am

Great performance by Belal. Can’t deny that.

Knew Leon would offer that excuse as soon as he got the mic.

Tom beats everyone on the planet in hand to hand combat save maybe Francis.

Dupp · Post #15 » by **Dupp** » Sun Jul 28, 2024 6:12 am

Apparently ufc is cutting mokaev. Wild

cowboyronnie · Post #16 » by **cowboyronnie** » Sun Jul 28, 2024 1:35 pm

I figured Belal had no chance... watched it in fast forward, assuming it was gonna be a one-way workshop of Leon countering Belal's aggression. But, nah... Belal Muhammed, champion. Unbelievable.

From the river to the sea....

duppyy · Post #17 » by **duppyy** » Mon Jul 29, 2024 10:22 am

Belal the most boring champion

cowboyronnie · Post #18 » by **cowboyronnie** » Mon Jul 29, 2024 3:27 pm

Pressure guys are not boring. On the ground, sure. But when it's an actual tactical problem that another fighter has to solve, it's legit. Leon just absolutely destroyed Colby, another pressure fighter.

But Belal was all over him. I'm listening to Robert Whitaker lavish respect on Belal right now.

9/13 takedowns. A head spike takedown.

Post #19 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Mon Jul 29, 2024 3:38 pm

Belal was walking through the fire and throwing a lot too. Great performance, nothing boring about that. I thought that would be an easy Leon win.