UFC 304 Recap: Is Aspinall the Best Heavyweight in the World?
UFC 304 was the second to last stacked card before the debut of the sphere in Las Vegas. There was a lot of pressure on Dana White to give the fans exciting matchups before the sphere, and if we are being honest, he did. This card had two championship fights for the main and co-main in Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes and Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad. In my opinion, the Fight of the Night award goes to Tom Aspinall for his knockout win against Blaydes. Overall, this was a fun card, and it left us with two questions. Who is next for Leon Edwards? Is Aspinall vs. the winner of Jon Jones/Stipe Miocic the next fight for the Heavyweight championship?
The first fight on the main card was Arnold Allen vs. Giga Chikadze. Allen came into the fight as a -260 favorite and for good reason. The first round was close, but the unofficial scorecards had it 10-9 Chikadze. To those watching it felt like Allen was trying to apply pressure but didn’t know how to. Chikadze is a dangerous kickboxer so trying to rush him was never going to be easy. In round two, Allen looked more comfortable. With 2:39 left in the round, he hit Chikadze with a two-piece combo that would have stunned half of the Featherweight division. Allen won the second round meaning that heading into the final round it was anyone's fight. The third round was a masterclass by Arnold. He constantly landed counters and Chikadze just couldn’t land enough shots to sway the final vote in his favor. Arnold won the fight via unanimous decision.
The next fight was Christian Leroy vs. Gregory Rodrigues. Right from the jump you could see that the oddsmakers were wrong about this fight. Rodrigues, the +104-underdog dominated early, taking down Leroy with ease. In the second round, Rodrigues hit Leroy with a nasty elbow that left a cut on Leroy’s right eyebrow. Heading into the last round, Leroy needed a miracle if he was going to beat Rodrigues. Unfortunately, that miracle never came, and Rodrigues won the fight via unanimous decision.
With the first two fights of the main card going to decision, it was up to Paddy Pimblett and King Green to spice things up. Both fighters were jawing off at each other early, and you could just feel how into the fight the crowd was. The first round was more talking than fighting for both fighters making it hard to judge. That was until Green shot a double leg on Pimblett. Pimblett was able to turn Greens’ double leg attempt into a triangle choke, and within 45 seconds of the choke, he was able to submit Green. Pimblett is still undefeated, and it may not be much longer until he gets his first title shot.
The co-main was one of the most electrifying fights of the year. Tom Aspinall showed us all just how good he truly is. Aspinall finished Blaydes within the first two minutes of round one. Aspinall has never gone the distance and with the way he fights, it's hard to imagine that he ever will. The next fight for Aspinall will be the winner of Jon Jones/Stipe Miocic for the Heavyweight gold, and in my opinion, he has a good chance against both.
Now let’s talk about the main event, Leon Edwards vs Belal Muhammad. Heading into this fight tensions were at an all-time high. Belal and Leon were constantly bad-mouthing each other and it seemed like both fighters genuinely hated each other. Muhammad came out as the aggressor, immediately shooting a takedown on Edwards. Edwards got up pretty quickly but halfway through the first Muhammad was ahead on the scorecards. Muhammad ended up securing another takedown towards the end of the first and it was clear that Edwards’ was down 0-1 heading into the second. The second round was won by Muhammad. He was able to takedown Edwards two times and according to the live odds he was now the favorite to win the fight. The third round was when Edwards woke up. He was able to reverse Muhammad in the grappling exchange and ended up taking Belals back. Although he wasn’t able to finish the fight during this round, he was able to win the round, making it 2-1 Muhammad. The fourth round started with both fighters landing multiple strikes on the feet. With 3:00 left in the round Muhammad was able to secure a takedown and not let Edwards stand for the majority of the round. To most watching it felt like Edwards would need a knockout or a submission in the final round if he was going to win this fight. The fifth round seemed like it was going Muhammad's way but with about 1:00 left in the fight, Edwards landed multiple elbows that left Muhammad leaking blood from his nose. Even if you believe that Edwards won the fifth round, it was clear that Muhammad would win the decision. Muhammad won the fight by unanimous decision and now we will have to wait and see how the UFC will proceed. Will Edwards get a rematch, or will he have to earn his way back into a title fight?
