Israel Adesanya predicts knockouts galore on UFC 304 main card
Israel Adesanya believes that UFC 304's main card will give those who manage to stay awake for it much to cheer about. The pay-per-view card takes place in Manchester, England, but will begin at prime time in the United States.
This means that the main card will kick off at roughly 3 AM local time, which could frustrate both fighters and fans. Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, however, believes that the fight card will be full of action, and will energize the crowd, as he predicted three consecutive KOs on the main card.
The featured bout will see divisional veteran Bobby 'King' Green face Paddy Pimblett, before Tom Aspinall and Curtis Blaydes clash for the interim heavyweight title in the co-main event. The card will be headlined by a highly anticipated rematch between Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad for the welterweight title.
'The Last Stylebender' broke down all three matchups, and said this:
"I think it's gonna be a finish from Bobby in this one. Too much and eventually he's gonna cave. Paddy's just gonna wilt." [6:22-6:32]
He continued:
"I'm gonna go Tom in this fight... Tom by finish in this fight, 'cause it's heavyweight. But if Tom's not careful with the range, Curtis can catch him and do the same." [8:10-8:33]
Adesanya rounded off his UFC 304 breakdown with the following:
"I think Leon finishes this fight... This seems like a bad match for Belal. I'm not hating on Belal, what's his path to victory... It's Leon's fight to win, it's Leon's fight to lose." [10:05-10:41]
Watch Israel Adesanya's video below:
Leon Edwards eyes a middleweight move but won't fight Israel Adesanya
Leon Edwards will defend his welterweight title against Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 in Manchester, England. The 170-pound king is fully focused on the task at hand, but recently admitted that he would be interested in moving to middleweight in the near future.
Edwards was also swift to mention that there was one man he wouldn't face at 185 pounds, Israel Adesanya. 'The Last Stylebender' will challenge Dricus du Plessis for the middleweight title next month at UFC 305, hoping to become a three-time UFC middleweight champion.
Ahead of his rematch with Muhammad, 'Rocky' spoke to Sky Sports about a potential move up to middleweight, saying this:
"Another one this year, a couple more next year and then move up. I'll be what? 33, 34 [years old], late-2025 or early-2026... [I'd fight] whoever is the champ at the time, apart from Izzy. I don't want to fight Izzy."
He went on to give his reasons for not wanting to face Adesanya, saying:
"I don't want to fight Izzy. Not because I'm afraid of him...we've built a relationship where it would be weird to fight him."
Watch Leon Edwards discuss fighting Israel Adesanya below: