UFC 304 Results: Belal Muhammad Dethrones Welterweight King Edwards; Aspinall Books Heavyweight Title Shot

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Belal Muhammad outworked Leon Edwards to win the UFC Welterweight World Championship in the headliner of UFC 304: Edwards vs Belal event in front of a record-breaking sold out Co-Op Arena in Manchester, England on Sunday (July 28).

The eighth numbered event of 2024 recorded 17,907 audience in attendance, which also marked the arena record for highest grossing event at $6.72M USD as Manchester was treated to an extraordinary night of fights featuring the UK's hottest talent and up-and-coming prospects.

5 of the 14 bouts on the card, including the co-main event, were stoppage wins with 2 being either knockout (KO) or technical knockout (TKO) and 3 submission wins. Three fighters collected bonuses with Paddy Pimblett taking a double bonus for submission win and symbolically for his twin daughters.

Apart from Pimblett, main eventer Pereira, co-main eventer Aspinall and Mick Parkins left the arena with an extra 100K USD as performance bonuses for their respective stoppage wins. Here is the recap from UFC 304:

UFC 304 Recap

UFC welterweight champion Edwards faced long-time rival Belal in a bout to settle the best. Muhammad had a fantastic opening performance, showing off his striking and landing huge takedowns through the first two rounds.

Edwards turned the tide in the third with a back take and submission attempts. Muhammad returned the favor by controlling from the back position and forcing Edwards to defend the entire fourth round, and repeated it in the fifth to earn a dominant win on the scorecards.

And following the win, the new UFC welterweight champion Belal dedicated the victory to his family and team, and demanded for respect as he builds his own identity as the world champion.

"This fight is for my family. I've got the best team in the world. We study and we get better every single fight. I'm no Khabib, I'm no GSP, I'm Belal Muhammad. Now the world knows it and they've got to start respecting it. I'm a world champion," Belal said in the post-fight Octagon interview.

In the co-main event, interim UFC heavyweight champion Aspinall took on No. 4 ranked Curtis Blaydes two years on from their first encounter, and reversed his fate with everything on the line.

In less than one minute of the opening round, Aspinall landed a right punch that sat down Blaydes, and he finished up with ground and pound. With the interim title defence, Aspinall himself up a shot at the UFC heavyweight title.

After the win, Aspinall paid respect to his opponent Blaydes before taking aim at UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones as "the best finisher in UFC" is next in line for the title unification bout.

"First of all, I want to say a massive respect to Curtis, what a human being this guy is. I had nothing against him personally, but we needed to 'put that one to bed'. And now I got my revenge. I'm the best finisher in the UFC," Aspinall said in the post-fight Octagon interview.

"I just spoke to the boss man. Who wants to see Tom Aspinall versus Jon Jones? Hello Jon, I have nothing against you personally, I just know that I can beat you in a fight, so I'm coming for you! Sometimes, normal people can do extraordinary things, and I'm proof of it."

Also on the main card, UK's own "The Baddie" Pimblett and Arnold Allen showed out in their high level performances, defeating King Green and Giga Chikadze in their respective lightweight and featherweight contests. Here is a look at the final results of UFC 304:

UFC 304 Results

• UFC Welterweight World Championship Bout: Belal Muhammad defeated Leon Edwards by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)
• UFC Heavyweight Interim World Championship Bout: Tom Aspinall defeated Curtis Blaydes by TKO (strikes) at 1:00 of Round 1
• Lightweight Bout: Paddy Pimblett defeated King Green by submission (triangle choke) at 3:22 of Round 1
• Middleweight Bout: Gregory Rodrigues defeated Christian Leroy Duncan by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Featherweight Bout: Arnold Allen defeated Giga Chikadze by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Featherweight Bout: Nathaniel Wood defeated Daniel Pineda by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-28)
• Women's Strawweight Bout: Bruna Brasil defeated Molly McCann by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Bantamweight Bout: Jake Hadley defeated Caolan Loughran by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Flyweight Bout: Muhammad Mokaev defeated Manel Kape by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Welterweight Bout: Oban Elliott defeated Preston Parsons by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Light Heavyweight Bout: Modestas Bukauskas defeated Marcin Prachnio by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:12 of Round 3
• Welterweight Bout: Sam Patterson defeated Kiefer Crosbie by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 2:50 of Round 1
• Heavyweight Bout: Mick Parkin defeated Lukasz Brzeski by KO (strikes) at 3:23 of Round 1
• Women's Strawweight Bout: Shauna Bannon defeated Alice Ardelean by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)