UFC 304 proved to be a mixed night for UK mixed martial arts.
Tom Aspinall stayed on track for a historic unification fight against Jon Jones with a quick submission of Curtis Blaydes in the Manchester card.
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The 31-year-old eliminated the American in just 60 SECONDS to retain his interim heavyweight title just a stone’s throw from his hometown of Atherton.
Leon Edwards’ reign as welterweight champion, however, came to a surprising end at the hands of Belal Muhammad.
The Brummie succumbed to suffocating Palestinian-American attack wrestling for nearly five rounds en route to suffering a unanimous decision defeat.
SunSport was live on site at the brand new Cooperative Live Arena
And we saw a lot of things that the TV cameras didn’t show.
Check it out below.
Wayne Rooney’s subdued entry
Plymouth Argyle boss Wayne Rooney was present from the first fight of the night, in which Shauna Bannon scored her first win in the promotion against Alice Ardelean.
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But he didn’t make a grand entrance, keeping a low profile in a black hoodie and a black coat. baseball cap.
His presence on the card was not a surprise, as he is an avid boxing fan and has participated in UFC events.
He will no doubt be trying to catch up with his to sleep given that the card was finalized at 6:15 on Sunday morning.
Consequences of terrible toe injury
Manel Kape suffered a decision defeat in his preliminary clash with Muhammad Mokaev, who Dana White surprisingly RELEASED after the card.
Midway through the second round, he appeared to try to realign the big toe on his right foot after landing a kick to Mokaev’s knee.
This clearly hindered his movement for the rest of the stanza, although it didn’t stop him from pressing in the final round.
But he looked hurt as he passed the press row, where SunSport saw his toe looking well and truly out of place.
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UFC big wig stripped look
Endeavor CEO Ari Emmanuel crossed the pond to collect the stacked British card. But he wasn’t his usual super elegant self.
He opted for a more casual look, wearing a t-shirt – an Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg one to be precise – for the morning card.
And who could blame him? Personally, I wouldn’t want to be dressed to the nines after midnight.
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Fan fight
A mass brawl broke out moments after Edwards’ reign as UFC welterweight champion ended.
And moments after Muhammad’s hand was raised, a fight broke out near the seats next to the cage.
It is not clear what started the chaos, nor which security guards were quickly controlled.
The footage showed a fan picking up a chair in an attempt to throw it at another punter.
Fortunately, security was able to put a limit on things and separate those involved.
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Muhammad’s message to those who hate
Muhammad couldn’t help but dwell on his pre-fight doubts as he walked past the press row.
The new welterweight king said with pride and defiance: “Doubt me now.
“Doubt me now!”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
