Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad are both full of confidence.
This Saturday, Edwards puts his welterweight title on the line against Muhammad in the main event of UFC 304, which goes down at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England. For months, tension has been building up between the two former foes, with both men exchanging heated comments at the pre-fight press conference. The two then met face-to-face for the final time ahead of their bout at the ceremonial weigh ins on Friday, and afterward, Muhammad had a message for the raucous British crowd.
“All these boos tomorrow are going to be tears,” Muhammad said. “Head shot, dead. Your boy is going to sleep! And new, inshallah. That’s my family right there, that’s all I care about. The rest of you guys, tomorrow night, cry about it. It’s over for you guys! England is going to lose again!”
Edwards had a different message for his countrymen, one that the fans were much happier about.
“Manchester! Listen, forget what he says,” Edwards declared.” Thanks for turning out, Manchester. Tomorrow night, he’s as good as dead. He’s too slow, too small, I’m knocking him the f*ck out.”
Also taking place at UFC 304, interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall runs things back with Curtis Blaydes for the interim heavyweight belt in the co-main event. And while Edwards and Muhammad have been at each others’ throats all week, Aspinall and Blaydes have been highly respectful of one another, something that carried through their final faceoffs.
“It’s past my bedtime,” Blaydes said. “I’m trying to get back and get to sleep, give y’all a fight tomorrow night.”
“First of all, thanks everyone for coming,” Aspinall followed up with. “This is my absolute dream. Me and Curtis have some unfinished business. I’m going to settle it right here on Saturday night.”
The other big event for these ceremonial weigh ins was the near brawl that happened with regard to the undercard fight between Muhammad Mokaev and Manel Kape. Earlier this week Mokaev and Kape got into a brawl at the fighter hotel and things nearly kicked off again the moment both men stepped foot on stage. Only intervention by security prevented anything from going south, and ultimately the two didn’t even get to share a faceoff, such is the animosity between them.
Check out the full UFC 304 final faceoffs highlights above.
