UFC 304 Confirmed for Manchester this Summer!

Aspinall and Edwards are expected to feature on the packed UFC card

The UFC has officially announced its return to the UK, with UFC 304 set to take place at the new Co-op Live Arena in Manchester on July 27th.

in March, Dana White announced a numbered UK event was in the making. He has now confirmed that the upcoming UK event will be held in Manchester and broadcast on pay-per-view. The event is designated as UFC 304, although the lineup of fights has not yet been revealed. It is expected to be one of the biggest MMA betting events of the year!

The preliminary bouts are scheduled to begin at 11pm BST, with the main card starting at 3am. This timing strategy is designed to accommodate US audiences, but it has faced criticism from British fans.

“3am main card IN ENGLAND is f***ing ridiculous! What’s the point??” wrote one Instagram user on an official UFC post. “The main card starts at 3am uk time. embarrassing [sic],” wrote another.

“Has to be a joke right?? We wait up till that time or even later when it’s in the USA,” added another user. Meanwhile, one comment read: “Main card starts 3am uk time, that’s so poor man.”

When White spoke about the event in March, he mentioned Tom Aspinall and Leon Edwards as possible participants in Manchester, stating:

“I have an English heavyweight champion and lots of other European stars, but two champs now out of England.”

Wigan heavyweight Tom Aspinall, currently holding the interim title, is anticipated to defend his belt in his upcoming fight, likely at UFC 304—a somewhat unusual strategy for the UFC.

Aspinall, 31, secured the interim championship by defeating Sergei Pavlovich last November, following an injury to the reigning champion Jon Jones that postponed his scheduled defence against Stipe Miocic. 

Normally, winning an interim title positions a fighter to contest for the undisputed championship, yet the UFC has confirmed that the Jones vs Miocic fight will proceed first. Meanwhile, Leon Edwards, originally from Jamaica and now fighting out of Birmingham, holds the welterweight championship and is expected to defend his title against Belal Muhammad next, possibly at UFC 304.

Edwards, 32, last competed in December, successfully defending the 170-pound title he captured in 2022 with a victory over Colby Covington.