Tag: UFC 304

Leon Edwards reveals extra steps has taken to adjust to the late start time of UFC 304. 

The UFC is set to make it’s awaited return to the United Kingdom on July 27. UFC 304 will see Edwards defend his title 170lbs title against Belal Muhammad in the main event. Tom Aspinall will put his interim heavyweight championship on the line against Curtis Blaydes. Both matchups will be rematches.

Other talent such as Paddy Pimblett, Muhammad Mokaev and Arnold Allen will also feature, UK fans should be in store for a great night. However, not only are fans being charged extortionate prices, but the card will also start on U.S. time. This means that the main event will begin around 5 am UK time. 

Leon Edwards drafts sleep specialist into UFC 304 camp

Not only will this impact fans, but also many of the athletes on the card who are based in Europe. Fighters will have to adjust in their preparations to best deal with the anti-social hours. 

Speaking to talkSPORT, Leon Edwards would even reveal that he has totally changed training schedule and has even employed asleep coach. 

“I’ve brought in a specialist in sleep, and they’ve given me a plan of how it will work,Edwards explained. I thought I’d have to train at 5 a.m. straight away from the morning, but they said basically ‘Six weeks out we’ll start switching your body clock and training’.”

So, my evening session will now become my first session, so at 5pm I’ll do my first session and then I’ll train again at midnight. And then each week I’ll move both sessions forward an hour to adjust to the time, so I’ll sleep later and train later.”

While some aspects of the event are far from perfect, it is hard to complain about the card itself. It is packed with UK and Ireland-based talent from top to bottom. 

Who are you picking to win at UFC 304 next month? Leon Edwards or Belal Muhammad?

Finally slated to make his return this summer, Leon Edwards has opened as a sizeable betting favorite to successfully defend his undisputed welterweight crown in his rematch with the surging, Belal Muhammad atop UFC 304 in July.

Edwards, the incumbent welterweight champion, is set to return to the Octagon at the end of July this summer, taking on Illinois contender, Muhammad in the pair’s title re-run – in the main event of UFC 304 in Manchester.

Sidelined since December of last year, Birmingham native, Edwards most recently recorded his second straight successful defense of his title with a unanimous decision shutout win over Colby Covington at UFC 296. 

And with betting lines now set for UFC 304 in July, welterweight king, Edwards has opened as a -218 favorite to dispatch the +180 underdog, Muhammad in the pair’s championship rematch this summer. 

Leon Edwards opens as favorite to beat Belal Muhammad at UFC 304

Fans and punters hoping to get in on the action early on what promises to be a hugely active betting line ahead of UFC 304 in July can do so over at https://tychebets.com/kritikes/casino-infinity – including bettors who are tuning into the huge return to the region from Greece.

First squaring off at UFC Vegas 21 three years ago in a main event slot, then-surging contender, Leon Edwards fought Muhammad to an eventual third round official ‘No Contest’ – forcing the latter out of their main event bout after landing an inadvertent eye poke.

Working his way back to top contention with a stunning unbeaten streak since, Muhammad most recently took out prior title challenger, Gilbert Burns back in May of last year in a short-notice five round decision win, earning himself the number two rank at 170 pounds. 

And remaining supremely confident of definitively dispatching Muhammad this time around at UFC 304 in the summer, Team Renegade BJJ & MMA stalwart, Edwards has already played up the possibility of facing off with UFC 303 headliner, Conor McGregor in a historic title fight at Madison Square Garden later this annum. 

“That’d be good, that’d be good, you know,” Leon Edwards told of a fight with Conor McGregor. “It would be good to give him the opportunity – yeah, 100 percent, why not? I feel like let’s give him the opportunity to become [a] three-division world champion, [and] give me an opportunity to take out a guy like Conor (McGregor). You know, New York – that would be perfect.”

“That is the fight, you know,” Leon Edwards explained. “He goes out there and takes out Michael (Chandler), I take out ‘No One Remembers His Name’ and we’ll go from there. We’ll go to New York – MSG, let’s go. That’s the fight. That’s the fight, that’s the fight, I feel. You know, two of us have business to take care of. That’s the fight, that needs to happen. It should happen.” 

Alongside his return to the U.K. to defend his title on home soil again, Edwards is joined by fellow British star, Tom Aspinall who himself rematches Curtis Blaydes in a co-main event slot, putting his much-discussed interim heavyweight title on the line at the Co-op Live Arena. 

Who wins at UFC 304: Leon Edwards or Belal Muhammad?

UFC welterweight title challenger Belal Muhammad doesn’t care to get support from the average UFC fan.

Muhammad is set to challenge Leon Edwards for the welterweight title on July 27 in the main event of UFC 304 in Manchester, England.

Although Muhammad is one of the top fighters in the world, he doesn’t get a ton of support from the average UFC fan, which he doesn’t seem to care about.

“Being at [WWE] events is funner,” Belal Muhammad said on the Money Loyalty Respect podcast. “It’s like the complete opposite of UFC because those people are so into it. No matter what you’re doing, like, you could literally throw a punch or run into the ropes and the fans are going crazy no matter what, because they’re real, true, fans…

“UFC fans, it’s just like you said, 90% of them are just drunks that don’t care about anybody else unless they’re bleeding and standing in front of each other just banging it out … A lot of these people are just waiting for that viral moment, that viral knockout, that viral power slap or something nowadays that could go on TikTok,” Muhammad added.

Belal Muhammad holding himself to a higher standard

Part of the reason why Belal Muhammad doesn’t care about the support from MMA fans is because he holds himself to a higher standard than what they think about him.

Instead, he says he wants to set a good example for other Muslim kids on how to act, and not be disrespectful, which plenty of fighters are.

“I hold myself to higher standards because I do have those younger Muslim kids out there that are looking up to me,” he explained. “When they see me praying or something, it motivates them. And I’d rather have that more so than the drunk guy at the bar that’s, like, ‘Oh, Bully B’s a beast.’ Because those guys, once you lose, they’re gonna be the same ones that are saying, ‘Oh, you suck.’”

Muhammad will be fighting for the welterweight title for the first time in his career as he enters the bout on a 10-fight unbeaten streak.