Storylines: UFC 304

Leon Edwards has spent three-plus years with a thorn in his side. Now, he gets the chance to remove it.

The 32-year-old Team Renegade star will defend his undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title when his rematch with Belal Muhammad headlines UFC 304 on Saturday at Co-op Live in Manchester, England. Their first encounter ended in a no contest due to an accidental eye poke in March 2021. Edwards enters the cage on the strength of a four-fight winning streak. He last suited up at UFC 296, where he took a five-round unanimous decision from Colby Covington on Dec. 16. Edwards has held the 170-pound championship for more than 700 days. On the other side of the equation, Muhammad has rattled off five straight victories. The Roufusport rep last competed on May 6, 2023, when he was awarded a five-round unanimous verdict against Gilbert Burns in the UFC 288 co-feature. Muhammad, 36, has gone the distance in 19 of his 27 professional bouts.

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In the five-round co-main event, Tom Aspinall puts the interim heavyweight championship on the line when he rematches Curtis Blaydes. They met once previously, with Aspinall falling victim to a catastrophic knee injury just 15 seconds into their July 2022 pairing. The Englishman underwent reconstructive surgery, returned to action a year later and proceeded to bludgeon Marcin Tybura and Sergei Pavlovich in a little more than two minutes combined. Aspinall has secured all 14 of his career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission. Blaydes, meanwhile, has compiled a stellar 13-4 record in the UFC. The Elevation Fight Team mainstay last fought at UFC 299, where he put away the surging Jailton Almeida with punches in the second round of their March 9 confrontation. Only Francis Ngannou (twice), Derrick Lewis and the aforementioned Pavlovich have managed to beat him.

The Edwards-Muhammad and Aspinall-Blaydes showdowns and the resulting fallout for the lightweight and heavyweight divisions are but two storylines to watch at UFC 303. Here are three more:

Proof in the Pudding

Many view Paddy Pimblett as a man of more hype than substance—a perception he can perhaps begin to change in his latest assignment. The former Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder will look to extend his seven-fight winning streak when he squares off with Bobby Green in a three-round lightweight showcase. Pimblett steps back into the spotlight with a perfect 5-0 record in the UFC. The polarizing 29-year-old Liverpool, England, native last strapped on the gloves at UFC 296, where he outpointed a shopworn Tony Ferguson to a unanimous decision across three rounds on Dec. 16. On the opposite side of the ledger, Green has long been established as an anytime-anywhere veteran. The ex-King of the Cage champion has won three of his past four bouts, a knockout loss to the freakish Jailin Turner the only hiccup. At age 37, Green has 49 fights worth of tread on his tires. Can Pimblett quiet the naysayers by posting his most significant victory to date?

A Place Where He Belongs

Intrigue still remains about exactly where Arnold Allen falls in the featherweight pecking order. The 30-year-old Tristar Gym representative will attempt to rebound from back-to-back defeats to Max Holloway and Movsar Evloev when he locks horns with Giga Chikadze in a featured attraction at 145 pounds. Allen continues to operate on the fringes of title contention in a division now ruled by undefeated champion Ilia Topuria. Wins over Calvin Kattar, Dan Hooker, Sodiq Yusuff, Nik Lentz, Gilbert Melendez, Mads Burnell and Makwan Amirkhani highlight his resume and provide him with an extensive track record many of his peers lack. Allen has never been finished in 22 professional bouts. Chikadze, meanwhile, has rattled off 10 victories over his past 11 outings. The Kings MMA representative has not seen action since he swept scorecards from “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 12 graduate Alex Caceres at UFC Fight Night 225 on Aug. 26, 2023. Will Allen re-establish himself as a viable contender in the featherweight division or cede his position to the Rafael Cordeiro-trained Georgian?

Put to the Test

Muhammad Mokaev can probably see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow at this point. Believed to be on the short list of possible title contenders in the flyweight division, the undefeated KHK MMA Team prospect will try to take another significant step forward at 125 pounds when he meets Manel Kape in a high-stakes prelim. Mokaev, who turns 24 in a matter of days, has compiled a 6-0 record since he joined the UFC roster to much fanfare two-plus years ago. “The Punisher” last climbed into the cage at UFC Fight Night 238, where he followed consecutive submissions of Malcolm Gordon, Jafel Filho and Tim Elliott with a hard-fought unanimous decision over Alex Perez. Kape figures to be another difficult hurdle to clear. The former Rizin Fighting Federation steps into view with the wind of a four-fight winning streak in his sails, having bested Felipe dos Santos by unanimous decision at UFC 293 in September. Is this where Mokaev stakes his claim as the clear No. 1 contender for the flyweight crown?