by Will Rogers
Wednesday, Jul 24, 2024
UFC 304
Edwards vs. Muhammad 2
Saturday, July 27th
Co-op Live - Manchester, England
The UFC returns to England on July 27th. There have been some great fights here over the years. This will be the first ever sporting event at the new Co-op Live Arena in Manchester. With a seating capacity of 23,500, it's the largest indoor arena in the UK. The stacked card is loaded with exciting matches. Many of the top British fighters will be partaking. I've taken a closer look at the biggest one and provided an option on how to play it.
Edwards vs. Muhammad 2
Saturday, July 27th
Co-op Live - Manchester, England
The UFC returns to England on July 27th. There have been some great fights here over the years. This will be the first ever sporting event at the new Co-op Live Arena in Manchester. With a seating capacity of 23,500, it's the largest indoor arena in the UK. The stacked card is loaded with exciting matches. Many of the top British fighters will be partaking. I've taken a closer look at the biggest one and provided an option on how to play it.
The Main Event
Edwards vs. Muhammad
Edwards -258
This will be a good one. These are both excellent fighters. They're each coming in confident and on winning streaks. There's also some genuine bad blood between them. You may recall that they fought once before. That 2021 fight was declared a no-contest due to an accidental eye poke. If you watched, you probably remember as it was rather gruesome. Leon Edwards (22-3) caught Belal Muhammad (23-3) with a finger to the eye and it was bad enough that the doctor stopped it. Muhammad wanted an immediate rematch. Given the circumstances, he probably deserved one. Edwards didn't feel that was necessary though given that Muhammad had taken the fight as late notice replacement. This time, they'll fight for the title.
At the time, Muhammad said this: "Never saw someone act so tough after poking someone in the eye,” Muhammad said. “The fight was just getting going and if you’re satisfied to end it on that note, you’re soft. You ain’t getting a title fight off that. I took the fight on three weeks notice and came to fight. Run it back."
More recently, Belal commented: “Honestly, there’s a sense of relief because it’s finally here, there’s no more waiting… There’s no more running from him, there’s no more excuses, there’s no more interviews, we’re going to meet in the cage and I’m going to show you guys what would have happened three years ago."
Edwards is the champ and he's on a roll. He'd won eight straight before the eye poke and he's won four in a row since. Two of those wins were against Kamaru Usman and the others were against Nate Diaz and Colby Covington. So, he may have avoided Muhammad but he's been fighting some high quality opposition. The decision win over Covington was his most recent and it came in December of 2023.
Like the champ, the challenger is also coming in hot. Since the eye-poke, Muhammad has won all five of his fights. Prior to that, he'd won four straight and eight of nine. This will be the first fight for "Remember the Name" since a decision win over Gilbert Burns in May of 2023.
Prediction: I lean to Edwards but not enough to warrant this big a price. I anticipated a line in the -180 to -200 range. As I release this article, the line has climbed above -250. In a fight that could really go either way, that makes Muhammad enticing as a sizeable underdog. Though it's expensive, the over 4.5 rounds (-215) looks like a safer choice. Four of Muhammad's last five fights have gone the distance. Edwards has seen six of his last seven fights, including both since becoming champion, go the distance. Play on the Over 4.5 Rounds.
Edwards -258
This will be a good one. These are both excellent fighters. They're each coming in confident and on winning streaks. There's also some genuine bad blood between them. You may recall that they fought once before. That 2021 fight was declared a no-contest due to an accidental eye poke. If you watched, you probably remember as it was rather gruesome. Leon Edwards (22-3) caught Belal Muhammad (23-3) with a finger to the eye and it was bad enough that the doctor stopped it. Muhammad wanted an immediate rematch. Given the circumstances, he probably deserved one. Edwards didn't feel that was necessary though given that Muhammad had taken the fight as late notice replacement. This time, they'll fight for the title.
At the time, Muhammad said this: "Never saw someone act so tough after poking someone in the eye,” Muhammad said. “The fight was just getting going and if you’re satisfied to end it on that note, you’re soft. You ain’t getting a title fight off that. I took the fight on three weeks notice and came to fight. Run it back."
More recently, Belal commented: “Honestly, there’s a sense of relief because it’s finally here, there’s no more waiting… There’s no more running from him, there’s no more excuses, there’s no more interviews, we’re going to meet in the cage and I’m going to show you guys what would have happened three years ago."
Edwards is the champ and he's on a roll. He'd won eight straight before the eye poke and he's won four in a row since. Two of those wins were against Kamaru Usman and the others were against Nate Diaz and Colby Covington. So, he may have avoided Muhammad but he's been fighting some high quality opposition. The decision win over Covington was his most recent and it came in December of 2023.
Like the champ, the challenger is also coming in hot. Since the eye-poke, Muhammad has won all five of his fights. Prior to that, he'd won four straight and eight of nine. This will be the first fight for "Remember the Name" since a decision win over Gilbert Burns in May of 2023.
Prediction: I lean to Edwards but not enough to warrant this big a price. I anticipated a line in the -180 to -200 range. As I release this article, the line has climbed above -250. In a fight that could really go either way, that makes Muhammad enticing as a sizeable underdog. Though it's expensive, the over 4.5 rounds (-215) looks like a safer choice. Four of Muhammad's last five fights have gone the distance. Edwards has seen six of his last seven fights, including both since becoming champion, go the distance. Play on the Over 4.5 Rounds.
