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Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad face off in the main event of UFC 304 on Saturday night. | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images MMA Fighting has UFC 304 results for the Edwards vs. Muhammad 2 fight card, live blogs of the entire main card, and more from the Co-op Live in Manchester on Saturday night. In the main event, UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards takes on Belal Muhammad in a rematch of their 2021 meeting, which ended in a no contest. Edwards has won four consecutive bouts since that matchup, while Muhammad is a winner of five straight. UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall puts his belt on the line a rematch against Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event. Aspinall and Blaydes previously fought in 2022, with Blaydes winning in just 15 seconds after Aspinall suffered a knee injury. Check out the UFC 304 results below. Main Card (ESPN+ PPV, 10 p.m. ET) Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes Paddy Pimblett vs. King Green Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Gregory Rodrigues Arnold Allen vs. Giga Chikadze Preliminary Card (ESPN2/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET) Nathaniel Wood vs. Daniel Pineda Molly McCann vs. Bruna Brasil Caolan Loughran vs. Jake Hadley Modestas Bukauskas vs. Marcin Prachnio Early Preliminary Card (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET) Oban Elliott vs. Preston Parsons Muhammad Mokaev vs. Manel Kape Sam Patterson vs. Kiefer Crosbie Mick Parkin vs. Lukasz Brzeski Shauna Bannon vs. Alice Ardelean

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Before Manel Kape was one of the top contenders in the UFC flyweight division, he was a RIZIN champion and one of the faces of the Japan-based promotion. Kape won his title in a 2019 rematch against vaunted striker Kai Asakura after falling to him by split decision just a year and a half prior, as both fighters established themselves among the best lighter-weight talents in the world. Now Asakura has joined Kape on the UFC roster, inking a deal to join the promotion following an impressive 21-4 record to start a career that includes wins over former Bellator champions Juan Archuleta and Kyoji Horiguchi. “He’s going to do great,” Kape said of Asakura when speaking to MMA Fighting. “I think he’s just going to bring more excitement to this division, what this division needs, a young prospect. He’s a brilliant fighter.” Because they split a pair of RIZIN fights, Kape likes knowing Asakura is coming to UFC, because that could potentially set up a rubber match between them in the future. Perhaps even more importantly, Kape believes it would be a great opportunity for UFC to finally return to Japan, where he and Asakura were both sizable draws for RIZIN. It’s been almost seven years since UFC last traveled to Japan, but Kape promises putting him against Asakura at the top of a card would serve as the perfect way to pack an arena. “Me and him, we have a big fan base in Japan,” Kape said. “Definitely, this is an opportunity for the UFC to bring back the UFC to Japan. We can put more than 50,000 people in Saitama Arena, like we did before, like I did in the main event against him when I became a champion in 2020. We put like 44,000 or 45,000 people [in there]. It’s good to take this advantage. “Of course, I support this type of big fight in Japan. Just a good addition to this division. We needed fighters like Asakura, like Manel Kape, like [Muhammad] Mokaev.” As much as Kape would like to eventually conclude his rivalry with Asakura now that they’re both UFC fighters, he can’t concern himself with that right now. At UFC 304, Kape competes in a potential No. 1 contender fight against undefeated flyweight Muhammad Mokaev, with the winner likely moving on to face reigning champion Alexandre Pantoja. That’s Kape wants to think about right now, but assuming he wins on Saturday and then dethrones Pantoja later this year, he welcomes the chance to run it back with Asakura in 2025. “It’s going to be a great story … next year,” Kape said. “My goal right now is beat Mokaev and then fight for the title end of the year. Then next year we’ll talk UFC Japan.”

Sean O’Malley | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Sean O’Malley is set to star at Sphere. UFC CEO Dana White announced Friday on social media that O’Malley will defend the bantamweight title against No. 1 contender Merab Dvalishvili in the main event of UFC 306, which takes place Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas. White has touted the pay-per-view show as a one-off, due to it being the most expensive production in promotional history. Due to a sponsorship deal, the event is officially branded as Riyadh Season Noche UFC. O’Malley seeks the second defense of his championship, following title fight wins against Aljamain Sterling and Marlon “Chito” Vera. “Sugar” has won six straight fights, excluding a no contest against Pedro Munhoz. On the strength of a 10-fight win streak, Dvalishvili has kept himself at the very front of the contenders’ line for the past few years. Were it not for his close friend and training partner Sterling reigning as champion, it’s likely Dvalishvili would have challenged for UFC gold earlier. As it stands, he now gets his shot at O’Malley with Sterling having lost and moved to the featherweight division. White also announced the co-main event as the trilogy bout between TUF 32 coaches, UFC flyweight champion Alexa Grasso and former champ Valentina Shevchenko. Grasso captured the title with a fourth-round submission of Shevchenko in 2023, then defended it with a controversial split draw at the promotion’s first Noche UFC event. A re-booked matchup between two-time featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega and top up-and-comer Diego Lopes highlights the rest of the pay-per-view main card, which also includes Daniel Zellhuber vs. Esteban Ribovics and Ode Osbourne vs. Ronaldo Rodriguez. The complete UFC 306 fight card can be seen below. Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes Esteban Ribovics vs. Daniel Zellhuber Ode Osbourne vs. Ronaldo Rodríguez Ignacio Bahamondes vs. Manuel Torres Irene Aldana vs. Norma Dumont Kevin Borjas vs. Edgar Chairez Yazmin Jáuregui vs. Ketlen Souza Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Aori Qileng

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images If Leon Edwards is able to defeat Belal Muhammad at UFC 304, lead commentator Jon Anik sees plenty of competition in the future from his own division. Edwards and Muhammad close the show at Saturday’s pay-per-view event in Manchester. With so much talk about “superfights” and two-division champions, Edwards has joined into the conversations in regards to moving up to 185 pounds and challenging for the middleweight title, or possibility by facing lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. For Anik, as impressive as being on a short list like UFC two-division champs can be, he believes putting together a run of defenses in your own division — and against your own division — is more valuable. “I’m so happy to get this question and answer a question about Leon Edwards’ legacy, and not necessarily about a superfight,” Anik told MMA Fighting. “Because all of these guys, monetarily, if that’s a big deal and the difference, deserve that superfight, but Kamaru Usman is a legend with crazy ice on his left wrist and a great checking account balance, I’m sure, because he didn’t move up, because he sustained and continued to defend in the welterweight division and chase records. “So oftentimes, I think dynasties and long-reigning champions are really how legacies are made. And I think Leon Edwards, potentially, is on the cusp of that.” Edwards captured the title with an insane fifth-round knockout of Usman at UFC 278 in August 2022, and has since defended the belt successfully against Usman, as well as former interim champ Colby Covington. Anik understands how impressive those wins are, along with Edwards’ near-decade long unbeaten streak. But adding some of the rising names in a loaded talent pool at 170 can potentially take Edwards to a top-tier level. “The type of scalps that he could leave in his wake — like the ever deserving Belal Muhammad, and potentially the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov, [who] is all the rage with men and women alike,” Anik said. “Or Ian Machado Garry, who is brash, but probably as good as every word that comes out of his mouth, [or] Jack Della Madalena with an entire country that absolutely eats this sport three meals a day behind it. It’s a tremendous time to be Leon Edwards.” Edwards is a sizable favorite to retain his title against Muhammad — who, like Edwards, is in the midst of a double-digit fight unbeaten streak. “Remember the Name” gets his first shot at UFC gold after dominating past title challenger Gilbert Burns in his most recent outing at UFC 288 in May 2023. Anik, who calls Saturday’s action on the broadcast alongside former champs Daniel Cormier and Michael Bisping, is quite fascinated in Edwards continuing his long-term résumé-building process, along with the matchup with Muhammad. “If you believe in Leon, the way I do skill for skill, there’s no reason why he wouldn’t be favored to beat all of these amazing fighters,” Anik explained. “So excited to see what he can do. “It stands to reason that we’re getting the best versions of both of these guys [at UFC 304], and I can’t f*cking wait.”

Ihor Potieria | Photo by Alexandre Loureiro/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Ihor Potieria faces kickboxing ace Cesar Almeida in a middleweight showdown at UFC 307 on Oct. 5, multiple people with knowledge of the situation confirmed to MMA Fighting following a report by Super Lutas. The promotion has yet to announce the headlining attraction and location for the pay-per-view event, which is expected to take place in Salt Lake City. Potieria (21-6) last fought in May, facing Michel Pereira on short notice in Rio de Janeiro and losing via first-round submission. His attempt to overturn the result to a no contest was later denied by the Brazilian commission. Potieria faces off against a Brazilian opponent for the fourth time since joining UFC. The Ukrainian talent scored the biggest win of his career in early 2023 by knocking out MMA legend Mauricio Rua, but has since been finished by Rodolfo Bellato and Pereira. Almeida (5-1) looks to rebound from a decision defeat to Roman Kopylov this past June after winning his octagon debut with a bonus-winning knockout over Dylan Budka. Almeida is a former kickboxing champion in Brazil and previously defeated future UFC and GLORY two-division champion Alex Pereira via decision in the kickboxing ring, though he also lost two other decisions to “Poatan.” The UFC 207 lineup currently includes Aljamain Sterling vs. Movsar Evloev and Marina Rodriguez vs. Iasmin Lucindo.