'No way they’d do this to McGregor or Oliveira,' Curtis Blaydes takes issue with VAMPIRE hours and toil of UFC 304 camp (2024)

All eyes are on Conor McGregor in the MMA world with his return after three years away. Immediately one numbered card after, comes UFC 304: Edwards vs Muhammad 2, from Co-Op Live In Manchester. Reigning welterweight Leon Edwards rematches Belal Muhammad in the feature headliner. Tom Aspinall rematches Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event. Blaydes has one main issue with the card — Time!

The No. 4-ranked heavyweight title contender wishes UFC 304 got that “Conor McGregor” or Charles Oliveira kind of attention. In a sense, he wanted to lobby for a change in timing. Given that two Brit champions defend their undisputed gold on home turf in an All-English affair, ‘Razor’ expected some leniency.

That’s the idea, just gonna have to be vampires for about a week — I don’t know what to do...because the city's gonna be sleeping… That part we're still working on; what we're gonna do as like, distractions...It's almost like a slight. Like, you guys, you don't respect Leon and Tom enough to give them a normal title fight situation?...There's no way they'd do this to McGregor or Oliveira. There are certain guys they wouldn't do this to. Curtis Blaydes via The MMA Hour (for MMAFighting for SBN); H/T: mmanews.com

UFC 304’s main card commences at 3 a.m. BST (10 p.m. ET) on ESPN+ pay-per-view, following the traditional start times for U.S. audiences. Interim champion Aspinall recently rallied for a change of the “terrible” timings. He originally opted to hold camp at the Las Vegas UFC PI but quickly realized the toil.

UFC 304 has not impressed the fans in any way. They have already complained about the starting time of the PPV main card. Moreover, the recent poster of UFC 304 received only negative attention on social media. The UFC brass remains unfazed at the moment. However, they would want the PPV to commence as soon as possible before other negative publicity impacts the PPV in Manchester.

Top talking points to consider about the UFC 304 card

Things are scaling up well with the UFC returning to Manchester for the first time in over 100 PPV events. During The MMA Hour, 170-pound champion Edwards recently noted that top brass had booked the pay-per-view slot for Utah. This poses the biggest hindrance of all: timing. Interim heavyweight Tom Aspinall and Curtis Blaydes voiced their concerns over this as well.

Since Utah was the original site, ESPN had already scheduled the PPV there as a home base. However, pandering to the cause of English titleholders, the venue shifted. Now, zombified fans in the Co-op Live will have to lay awake until approximately 5:30 am for the main eventers to make the rounds. It’s similar to UFC 204, with fans half asleep.

This was an extremely difficult factor for non-domestic fans. However, this card is a love letter to the UK fanbase. Historically, UFC’s appearances in the Kingdom have featured big Euro names like Marvin Vettori and Roman Dolidze . Now, with Aspinall, ‘Rocky’ Edwards, Paddy Pimblett, and others, all 14 fights include a fighter from either the UK or Ireland. It’s the UK vs The World now.

Moreover, The Guardian reports Co-op Live’s grand opening was fraught with technical glitches. Events pertaining to comedian Peter Kay, the band Black Keys, and rapper “A Boogie wit da Hoodie” were all canceled. It is another thing for Curtis Blaydes to worry about. All in all, UFC 304 is a mix-bag of anticipation.