UFC returns to Manchester for the first time in eight years, Gaethje gives a health update after being knocked out by Max Holloway
• 2 min read
UFC 304 is officially headed to Manchester. The promotion returns to England on July 27 for a summer pay-per-view. UFC formally announced the news on Wednesday morning after tweeting and deleting the poster on Tuesday.
UFC president Dana White had previously teased a summer event in England but did not confirm if it would be a PPV or Fight Night. The announcement marks the fifth time that UFC will visit Manchester. The city hosts its first UFC event since Michael Bisping defended the UFC middleweight title against Dan Henderson in their 2016 rematch at UFC 204.
No main event or fights have been announced for UFC 304, but there are expectations that UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards and interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall are involved. Edwards’ longtime coach Dave Lowell told talkSPORT he has “no doubt” Edwards will compete on the card and “99.9%” believes Belal Muhammad will be the challenger. Aspinall announced last week that he had accepted a fight for Manchester. Aspinall did not reveal any potential opponents.
“I had a meeting with the UFC,” Aspinall said on TikTok. “It has now been confirmed that I am fighting on UFC Manchester, so I’m back home preparing for that now.
“I’ve started the early stages of training camp. I’m just waiting for my opponent to accept so stay tuned, keep up with the socials, and keep up with the YouTube channel. I’ll be announcing it very soon.
More UFC news, rumors
- Justin Gaethje will take his time being knocked out by Max Holloway at UFC 300. Holloway hit Gaethje with a buzzer-beater KO that will go down in UFC history on April 13. Gaethje absorbed 180 significant strikes preceding the finishing blow at 24:59 of their fight. Gaethje plans to train in various capacities but won’t engage in any contact for six months. “Metaphorically, I could be ready tomorrow, but physically, I do want to take care of myself,” Gaethje told MMA Hangout. “I do think that repeated concussions, with me going to sleep like that, me receiving that shot, it would be foolish for me to jump back into training anytime before 180 days… I could do cardio, I can stay in shape, that’s what I want to try and do — especially [with] the older I get, the harder it is to get back to the best shape of my life, so I want to stay active. Obviously the physical contact is going to be limited for quite some time, just because I want to preserve myself.”
