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UFC304: Manchester

 

 

Sat, Jul 27 / 10:00 PM EDT

Co-op Live, Manchester United Kingdom

 

 

God save the queen! Or is it king?  I don’t know... what I do know is, UFC is back in England for what looks like a great card. It includes two title fights and is packed from top to bottom with English fighters.

 

Without further ado, let’s get into it.

 

 

 

 

Welterweight Title Bout

Leon Edwards (22-3, C)  vs Belal Muhammad (23-3, #2)

 

 

So the UFC finally caved and gave Belal Muhammad his well deserved title shot. For those who do not know, Belal is on a 9 fight win streak and has taken out some of the divisions best competitors along the way. Seems like it would be obvious after beating Gilbert Burns, Belal would be a shoe in for a title shot.. right?

 

 

 

 

Wrong. Last December when Leon was ready to defend again, they gave the opportunity to Colby Covington. You won’t find a bigger Colby supporter than I - hate him or love him the man is a draw. Then, when Leon was asked to potentially defend again at UFC 300, it had to be time to officially offer the fight to Belal, right? No way the UFC would deny him his chance now.. except they did. Dana didn’t want him headlining the biggest UFC card of all time. So instead, a plethora of other fighters were offered to fight Leon.

 

 

 

 

People just don’t want Belal on the top of the bill. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.. until now. These two have fough before and we got almost a round in when an eye poke ended the fight. They traded shots for a round,  but ultimately Leon looked like he was landing with more power.

 

Prediction and Gambling

 

Stylistically, this is set to probably be a pretty slow paced fight. They both have high level striking, so I expect the first couple rounds to be spent establishing the distance. If Belal does get a takedown, expect him to establish control/control time. These two had thier first fight, we got almost a round in when an eye poke ended the fight. They traded shots for a round,  but ultimately Leon looked like he was landing with more power. 

 

Belal is talented and a great fighter, but I always expect the UFC champion of the world to be elite at least one thing. He is extremely well rounded but I don’t think anything in his arsenal is elite. Leon however is an elite boxer.. and I think that makes the difference.

 

Pick: Leon Edwards (-230). If this line doesn’t come down, couple it with the over or ”by decision” till you get the line you like.

 

How can you bet against this level of clutchness??

 

 

 

LINK: Leon Edwards Drains Basketball With Soccer Kick

 

 

 

 

Heavyweight Title Bout

Tom Aspinall (14-3, IC) vs Curtis Blaydes (18-4, #4)

 

 

If the interm title belt is getting defended now, and the “undisputed” title is getting defended in November.. who is the actual heavyweight champ? Since Jon Jones refused to vacate his belt when he got hurt, and refuses to fight the interm champ.. we are left with a little bit of a clusterfuck at heavyweight. Jon has been defending his decision to fight Stipe to no end, and refuses to accept Tom as a contender. 

 

 

 

 

Jon Jones being an asshole aside, this matchup is amazing. Aspinall defends his belt against a surging Curtis Blaydes. Both fighters are coming off big knockout wins, but both also can wrestle. Stylistically this is a fun fight as they are quite evenly matched.

 

Last time these two “fought”, it ended in 15 seconds when Tom tore his ACL. Other than that freak incident.. he hasn’t been beaten in the UFC. 

 

Prediction and Gambling

 

I think Tom is too good everywhere. He won’t be out grappled, and he will stay out of trouble on the feet. He finishes Blaydes on home court in front of a bunch of overly drunk Englishman at 4am local time.

 

Pick: Aspinall, under 2.5 rounds

 

 

 

 

Lightweight Bout

King Green (32-15-1, #15) vs Paddy Pimblett (21-3)

 

 

So Bobby Green decided he’s going to make everyone call him “King” now by legally changing his name. I like him usually, but this joke isn’t getting over with the fans.

 

 

 

 

On the other side of the octagon is Paddy The Baddy. A fighter many wrote off as a gimic.. with the Beatles haircut, funny accent, and undisciplined eating habits in between fights. I think we are slowly learning that he takes the sport more seriously than we all knew. I noticed this when he fought the last fight with corn rows, as he thought his hair made his opponent’s punches look more meaningful. And I can see it this camp when he seemingly looks in excellent shape a week out.

 

 

 

 

Prediction and Gambling

 

I think Green is a gatekeeper in this division, and a damn good one, but I think Paddy keeps getting better and better. Paddy will get a statement win on Saturday. 

 

Pick: Paddy The Baddy (+100)

 

 

 

 

Flyweight Bout

Muhammad Mokeav (12-0, #6) vs Manel Kape (19-6, #8)

 

 

This fight is a good one, but oddly has slowly moved down the fight card this week. To me, there are title implications for the 125 pound division.. but the UFC has moved it from the main card to the prelims. Now seemingly it’s on the “early” prelims. So we will see what comes out, but for now the fight is still on.

 

Mokeav was calling for a title shot at UFC 301. He’s undefeated, but the champ (and I guess the UFC) weren’t impressed with his last performance as it was a bit of a snoozer. So what is his reward? The snooze proof Manel Kape. 

 

If you are unfamiliar with Kape, he’s a 125 pound firecracker. He may knock his opponent out in spectacular fashion. He may question your whole team’s sexuality on the mic after. One thing he won’t do is be boring.

 

 

 

 

Prediction and Gambling

 

Kape comes into hostile turf and snatches a zero. Is Mokaev a real Brit anyway? 

 

Pick: Kape (+120)

 

 

Featherweight Bout

Arnold Allen (19-3, #6) vs Giga Chikadze (15-3, #10)

 

After reeling off 10 straight wins since joining the UFC, Arnold Allen is coming off 2 losses going into this fight. One to the undefeated Movsar Evloev, and one to the red hot Max Holloway. He now has another really tough test in Giga Chikadze.

 

Chikadze is one of the better kickboxers in the division, and a win over Allen would propel him to the top of it. Stylistically, he will need to punish Allen with his kicks and keep the fight standing.

 

Prediction and Gambling

 

Arnold Allen is in front of his people, and will not be beat. He is too well rounded and belongs in the top 5 of featherweight. He will use his striking and his far superior grappling to get the job done.

 

Pick: Allen (-250)

 

 

 

 

Well there you have it. We have a fight card in England, and I think we will see a lot of English victories. Time to party like it’s 1919 and give the crowd in Manchester a good night.. considering they have to not sleep to see these fights. Who need sleep anyway, just get some beers in!

 

 

 

 

 

BONUS

 

Here is a definition for all the British slang you need to understand the post fight interviews and Bisping on commentary. So hopefully you win some quid, drink ale till you arse over tit, because this card is gonna be the dog’s bullocks!