UFC 304 fighters to watch: Can Pimblett get it done in biggest test to date?

The UFC returns to Manchester, England for the first time since 2016 with a UFC 304 card full of British talent.

In addition to undisputed welterweight champion Leon Edwards and interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall, both from England, set to defend their belts in front of the home crowd against Belal Muhammad and Curtis Blaydes, respectively, the card boasts plenty of additional star power and a handful of fighters with future title aspirations.

Paddy Pimblett ticks both those boxes as one of the most popular U.K. fighters at the moment and, as a former Cage Warriors featherweight champion just like Conor McGregor, one that views himself as a future UFC champ.

The 29-year-old can finally crack the UFC’s lightweight rankings if he improves to 6-0 at the UFC level when the Liverpool native faces accomplished veteran Bobby “King” Green who occupies the No. 15 spot among the contenders in the 155-pound division.

Pimblett’s recent trajectory has been on a less steep incline than it was earlier in his career despite beating all five of his UFC opponents. The holes in his striking game were on display in his unanimous decision win over Jared Gordon at UFC 282, a victory many onlookers scored for Gordon, and Pimblett’s most recent victory was over a well-past-his-prime Tony Ferguson. Pimblett swept the scorecards against Ferguson at UFC 296 in December but couldn’t finish him like Green did at UFC 291.

Green was knocked out viciously in December by Jalin Turner but rebounded with a terrific performance against Jim Miller at UFC 300 in April. This will be Green’s 50th professional MMA bout since debuting in 2008. 

Staying perfect in the UFC and entering the rankings could ensure he gets a notable, ranked opponent later this year, which at this point is what fans would like to see from Pimblett in his evolution. A definitive loss to a 37-year-old Green, on the other hand, would put an end to any future champion talk surrounding “The Baddy.” 

Arnold Allen

If it’s possible for a fighter to lose back-to-back unanimous decisions yet somehow improve their standing within a division, Arnold Allen has managed to do just that. Allen began his UFC career 10-0 before suffering his first defeat via five-round unanimous decision to former champion and current BMF titleholder Max Holloway. Allen, 30, also dropped a three-round UD to Movsar Evloev in January. In that bout, however, he hurt his opponent with a fight-changing knee that was deemed illegal due to the specific rule set enforced in Toronto — the knee he landed that hurt Evloev is legal in most other jurisdictions.

Allen will look to avoid three straight losses when he takes on Giga Chikadze in a featherweight contest that kicks off the pay-per-view main card on Saturday. Chikadze only has one win since 2021 and has competed just once in the past 30 months but holds previous stoppage wins over Edson Barboza and Cub Swanson. Ipswich’s Allen last time fighting in England was his phenomenal first-round technical knockout of Dan Hooker in 2022. 

Muhammad Mokaev

The undefeated 23-year-old’s March win over Alex Perez wasn’t enough for him to earn a title shot — Steve Erceg moved ahead of him in the pecking order the same night Mokaev decisioned Perez — but he can improve to 13-0 when he faces Manel Kape in an anticipated flyweight bout on the prelims.

Mokaev is ranked as the No. 6 contender at 125 pounds entering UFC 304. He is 6-0 in the UFC with three decisions and three submissions. Kape is the No. 8-ranked flyweight contender and riding a four-fight winning streak, although he has had seven different bouts fall apart for various reasons since 2022 and he often has difficulty cutting down to the 126-pound limit for non-title bouts. 

Middleweight knockout artists

The main card will be happening in the middle of the night in Manchester but the local fans at the Co-op Live will be wide awake for this one. The 185-pound matchup between Gregory Rodrigues and Christian Leroy Duncan is flying under the radar given neither are currently ranked contenders but it is a sneaky Fight of the Night contender.

Both are coming off two consecutive stoppage wins. They each finished poor Denis Tiuliulin with elbows with Leroy Duncan adding a ground-and-pound TKO over Claudio Ribeiro and Rodrigues putting away Brad Tavares with punches in February.

Molly McCann

McCann snapped her two-fight skid emphatically with her first career submission win in her strawweight debut in February. Her second bout at 115 pounds is against Bruna Brasil. McCann always brings the energy and she’ll be on the receiving end of a massive pop from the English fans when she makes her walk to the cage.

Projected UFC 304 bout order below:

MAIN CARD

-- Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad

-- Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes

-- Bobby Green vs. Paddy Pimblett      

-- Christian Leroy Duncan vs. Gregory Rodrigues

-- Arnold Allen vs. Giga Chikadze

PRELIMINARY CARD

-- Nathaniel Wood vs. Daniel Pineda

-- Molly McCann vs. Bruna Brasil

-- Caolan Loughran vs. Jake Hadley

-- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Marcin Prachnio

-- 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