UFC 304 cold open video celebrates ‘golden age’ of U.K. MMA
Tom Aspinall | Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The British have arrived.
Saturday’s UFC 304 event in Manchester, England, is headlined by a pair of title fights, both featuring British champions. Birmingham’s Leon Edwards defends his welterweight title against Belal Muhammad in the main event, while the co-main sees Salford’s Tom Aspinall put the interim heavyweight title on the line against Curtis Blaydes.
Watch the cold open for the ESPN+ pay-per-view event below, which opens by paying homage to U.K. MMA pioneers Michael Bisping, Brad Pickett, and Ross Pearson.
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As with every cold open for a major UFC show, the narration is performed by actor Ron Perlman, who proclaims that “the golden age of British MMA has arrived in force.” It’s hard to argue with that assessment given the star power at the top of Saturday’s lineup.
Edwards enters his third defense of the welterweight title having not lost since 2016. He is coming off of a wins over his two biggest rivals, Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman, and now seeks to shut the door on another feud when he rematches Muhammad. Their first encounter ended unceremoniously with an eye poke that left Muhammad unable to continue, but they’ve been granted another five rounds to settle the score.
Aspinall may only hold interim gold, but he is the No. 1 heavyweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings. A matchup with undisputed champion Jon Jones (or Stipe Miocic) could be in the cards for Aspinall with a win at UFC 304, but Blaydes has the potential to spoil the party and turn the heavyweight division on its head.
