On Saturday night, the mixed martial arts leader returned for its latest pay-per-view event, UFC 304.
For the past week, the promotion has been back in the United Kingdom. Why, then, was I still stating up until 7 AM, UFC? Dana White? Anybody? Pre-warning, I planned to do my best not to selfishly write that as a negative for my fellow Brits and I. Was I successful? No comment.
Regardless of the disappointing timings, nothing was disappointing about the lineup the UFC brought with it across the pond, topped by title defenses for welterweight kingpin Leon Edwards and interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall.
Before Belal Muhammad and Curtis Blaydes looked to bring shouts of 'and new' to the Octagon, Paddy Pimblett had his first opportunity at cracking the lightweight rankings against King Green, Arnold Allen attempted to snap his losing skid at the expense of Giga Chikadze, and Muhammad Mokaev and Manel Kape vied for potential number one contender status at 125 pounds.
Elsewhere, notable British names like Christian Leroy Duncan, Molly McCann, Nathaniel Wood, and Mick Parkin all looked to leave Manchester's Co-op Live arena with victories. But did they come together to form an entertaining night of fights?
Let’s find out with all the positives and negatives from UFC 304.
Negative - Rough Start
I can't remember the last time a fight at a UFC PPV event pitted two opponents against one another who quite clearly aren't up to the standard that should be required for someone to compete on the sport's biggest stage.
Excuse me, I should have said "couldn't remember," past tense. I now can remember: Shauna Bannon vs Alice Ardelean.
The Irishwoman arrived in the UFC as a promising prospect last year off the back of a win under the Invicta FC banner. But she flopped on debut, struggling to land any meaningful offense in a decision defeat to Bruna Brasil. Saturday's opening bout gave her the opportunity to erase the memory of that result with a strong sophomore performance. In that sense, she didn't exactly succeed.
"Mama B" was tasked with facing a late-notice replacement opponent in Ardelean. The Romanian's signing raised eyebrows, with most acknowledging her fairly underwhelming record and skillset while suggesting a social media following was the leading cause of her UFC arrival.
The fight was ultimately a close one with about as much quality as the kind of food the fans inside the Co-op Live would have picked up from Manchester kebab shops in the early hours.
Ardelean is certainly not at the level the UFC should require. And given her struggles en route to a lackluster decision win, it's hard to say that Bannon is.
With an 11 PM start time, the last thing the UK fans needed was a dud to start.
Positive - That's Better
Thank you, Mick Parkin and Sam Patterson.
When these two entered the cage, it was perhaps still too early for an in-cage alarm to be required. But Parkin, in particular, sent one ringing around Manchester with a thunderous...forearm?!
Regular readers will know my feeling on the heavyweight division (and the UFC's habit of placing the likes of Shamil Gaziev in main event spots this year). With that, it's always a relief to see them early on a card. The home favorite on Saturday night, however, brought feelings of relief for a different reason.
Rather than the feared three-round heavyweight slog, Parkin needed less than four minutes to dispatch Łukasz Brzeski for UFC 304's first finish. The damage was initially done by a clean overhand right that had "The Bull" on skates. While he survived the onslaught that followed for a time, his panicky evasive manoeuvers ultimately saw his head meet the forearm of Parkin, who had thrown a left hook.
We love a unique knockout move.
Patterson subsequently gave us the triad of fight results, following Bannon's decision and Parkin's knockout with a submission victory over Kiefer Crosbie. Like his compatriot's work beforehand, "The Future" needed just one round to have his hand raised, locking his Irish opponent in an arm-triangle choke for the quick tap.
The Englishman was highly touted prior to a disappointing debut in London last year. But having now won consecutive fights via first-round submissions, Patterson is well and truly back on the radar as one of the welterweight division's most promising up-and-comers.
Negative - Wolf Tickets
To those who bought into Muhammad Mokaev and Manel Kape's "bitter feud" and expected them to do away with their habit of putting on dull affairs at UFC 304, I'm afraid to say you were conned.
It took just a minute into the fight to see what was happening. After a hotel "brawl," some "hold me back" energy at the ceremonial weigh-ins, and the apparent attempt to get at each other in the cage pre-fight, Mokaev and Kape stayed at range feinting.
The rest of the fight was predictable from there. And while some have turned their nose up at the scorecards, the rounds were so lackluster and absent of effective offense that I'm not sure there could be any logical fury over whatever the judges were to come out with.
But, we did have a real reason for fury in round two: Mike Beltran.
After getting Kape to the mat for the first time in round two, Mokaev displayed some of the most egregious cheating in recent memory by yanking "Starboy's" shorts down and giving the cageside guests a view of his backside.
To not take a point is frankly diabolical. Congratulations, Mike, you can shout loud. Would you like a certificate? Why not do something actual consequential and take a point for such a blatant foul?
Not only was no point taken, Beltran wasn't even going to pause the fight and take the position away from Mokaev until Kape practically spelled it out to him.
Whether it's eye pokes, fence grabs, or de-clothing your foe, rules do not exist in mixed martial arts. I've said it before and I'll say it again, why wouldn't you cheat when such incompetence comes out of the third men inside the Octagon?
Positive - Bruna's Brutal Body Blows
It was always going to take something special to write a Molly McCann loss in the positive section, but Bruna Brasil gave it to us on Saturday night. In fact, she gave it to us multiple times.
So, what was special, I hear you ask? Bruna's body shots, that's what.
The focus pre-fight was all on McCann and how she appeared to have reinvented herself as a strawweight when she submitted Diana Belbiță in her divisional debut this past February. Because of that, an accomplished striker in Brasil was a ridiculously big underdog given the holes we've seen in "Meatball's" game.
But the Brazilian made a mockery of the betting lines in a round one that verged on a 10-8. "The Special One" delivered a relentless attack to the home fighter's body, drawing out major reactions with a few vicious knees and kicks to the midsection.
While she found less success in rounds two and three en route to a comfortable decision, Brasil's violent assault of McCann's body early was enough to leave a lasting impression. And with two wins on UK soil under the UFC banner, perhaps England is her good luck charm.
Positive - 'The Baddy'
Just as the early hours began to take their toll and the crowd inside the Co-op Live faded, Paddy Pimblett arrived to wake them up.
It's been a difficult period for "The Baddy," who has had his momentum stalled by injuries and a controversial win over Jared Gordon back in late 2022. His subsequent performance against Tony Ferguson did little to stifle his detractors given "El Cucuy's" age and losing skid.
With that, Pimblett vowed to get the fans back on his side by running through King (still feels odd to write) Green at UFC 304 — a claim not many took seriously. While a win was never going to be a massive shock, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone predicting one-way traffic and a quick finish.
But that is exactly what we got in Manchester, with a composed Pimblett picking Green apart on the feet in the opening exchanges before punishing the American's bizarre decision to shoot for a takedown.
After Green slipped out of a guillotine, Pimblett locked in a tight triangle choke, adding in an armbar to the equation just as the ranked contender lost consciousness, sending the home fans into a frenzy.
If Pimblett's three UFC fights in the UK have taught us anything, it's that he can always be counted on to create an atmosphere. And his latest triumph has certainly taught his doubters that they were wrong to dismiss his chances of earning a number next to his name on MMA's biggest stage.
Positive - Tommy Aspinall, Aspinall, Tommy Aspinall!
Tom Aspinall is the best heavyweight on planet Earth. Tom Aspinall is the UFC heavyweight champion. That is all.
As much as Jon Jones may try to downplay his talents and dismiss his relevancy outside of the United Kingdom in order to justify his decision to duck him, there can be absolutely no doubt anymore regarding Aspinall's place atop the heavyweight mountain.
If it wasn't already clear after he starched Sergei Pavlovich in 69 seconds last November to win the "interim" gold, it sure is now after he stopped Curtis Blaydes in just 60. Aspinall's first clean shot sat "Razor" down, and the American wasn't unable to show enough defense on the floor to avoid Marc Goddard's intervention.
With the win, Aspinall not only defended his title but also made the most of his chance to right the wrong from 2022 when a freak knee injury opposite Blaydes handed him his only Octagon setback to date.
So, what's next for Aspinall? Well, if it's not a unification fight with Jones, both the former two-time light heavyweight kingpin and the UFC should get significant backlash from the community.
And if Jones does indeed fight Stipe Miocic in a "legacy fight" that will do nothing for his legacy before retiring, his deliberate avoidance of Aspinall will mark a sizable stain on the back end of his career.
Fight the man, Jones.
Negative - Silly
I hate to conclude things with a complaint, but seriously, what was the UFC thinking?
At my desk, I was struggling to stay awake for a hefty chunk of the UFC 304 main card. I can't even imagine feeling like that while in attendance at the Co-op Live, and it's no wonder the atmosphere was absent for much of it.
Of course, Paddy Pimblett's entrance and the memorable wins for him and Tom Aspinall brought out the kind of cheers and reaction expected of a UK crowd. But just before that, Christian Leroy Duncan and Gregory Rodrigues fought out an entertaining and bloody battle amid complete silence.
Post-event, Dana White had the nerve to criticize fighters for not being motivated by the $100,000 bonuses, stating he'll never raise them under pressure at press conferences ever again. How about never making athletes compete at 3, 4, and 5 AM again? Maybe that had something to do with it?
The idea of a top promotion at the highest level of the sport making a champion defend their title at that time doesn't sit right with me — or most, it seems. Leon Edwards will be accused of making excuses after bringing up the impact of the UFC 304 timings on his performance, but it would be ignorant to suggest that it wouldn't have played a part.
The likes of Edwards had to compete in the early hours because the idea of American fans watching an event at 4 PM instead of 10 PM was apparently too crazy to entertain. Do better, UFC.
What this guy said 👇