Highlights
- Despite a stacked fight card, UFC 304’s main chatter is its 3 a.m. UK start time.
- UFC interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall criticized the UFC’s start time.
- UFC champ Leon Edwards, meanwhile, adjusts his training routine to prepare for US-friendly fight time.
Despite UFC 304 having a fantastic fight card, unfortunately, the fight card isn’t the main talking point heading into the event, it is the unusual start time. The man who headlines UFC 304 in the UK, Leon Edwards, who will defend his welterweight title in a rematch against Belal Muhammad, has shared some insight into the changes he has had to make during his training camp to adjust to the US-friendly start time.
Why UFC 304 in England has a Start Time of 3am BST
The pay-per-view card is scheduled to take place on the 27th of July in Manchester.
Leon Edwards Details Changes He’s Making to Training Camp For UFC 304
UFC 304 will have a main card start time of 3 a.m. GMT despite the event being in Manchester
UFC 304 goes down on Saturday, July 27 live from the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester. Despite the event taking place in the UK, the pay-per-view will have a regular, US-friendly start time, which means the main card of UFC 304 will start at 3 a.m. locally.
Adding to the fan and social-led criticism, Tom Aspinall, who competes in the co-main event of UFC 304 against Curtis Blaydes, has also spoken against the UFC’s start time and has even revealed that he recently spoke to UFC higher-ups about potentially getting the time changed. He was quickly shut down. Leon Edwards, the man who will main event UFC 304, has spoken in a recent interview about the changes he has had to make to his training routine ahead of the event later next month.
Tom Aspinall Continues to Slam ‘Absolutely Terrible’ UFC 304 Start Time
Tom Aspinall has continued to criticise the UFC for their decision regarding the start time of UFC 304, taking place in Manchester, England.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Edwards said the following:
“I’ve brought in a specialist in sleep, and they’ve given me a plan of how it will work. I thought I’d have to train at 5 a.m. straight away from the morning, but they said basically ‘Six weeks out we’ll start switching your body clock and training’.”
The welterweight champion has revealed that the timings of his training sessions have already drastically changed, and will continue to change as the fight draws closer, so he can get used to the fight time at UFC 304.
“So my evening session will now become my first session, so at 5pm I’ll do my first session and then I’ll train again at midnight. And then each week I’ll move both sessions forward an hour to adjust to the time so I’ll sleep later and train later.”
UFC 304 Fight Card As It Stands
The card will feature two title fights and some huge top-contender fights
Despite the awkward start time, the UFC have made sure to make their return to the UK a special one. The fight card for UFC 304 is full of up-and-coming European and UK-based talent as well as some of the best fighters the region has to offer.
The finalized UFC 304 card is:
- Leon Edwards (C) vs Belal Muhammad – UFC Welterweight Championship
- Tom Aspinall (IC) vs Curtis Blaydes – Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship
- Bobby Green vs Paddy Pimblett
- Muhammad Mokaev vs Manel Kape
- Arnold Allen vs Giga Chikadze
- Nathaniel Wood vs Daniel Pineda
- Oban Elliott vs Preston Parsons
- Christian Leroy Duncan vs Robert Bryczek
- Molly McCann vs Bruna Brasil
- Mick Parkin vs Lukasz Brzeski
- Caolan Loughran vs Ramon Taveras
- Shauna Bannon vs Ravena Oliveira
- Modestas Bakauskas vs Marcin Prachnio
- Sam Patterson vs Kiefer Crosbie
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