Real reason why UFC 304 had a delayed start time (despite backlash from fighters and fans)
The UFC 304 event transpired at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England. The UFC 304 early prelims commenced at 11 pm BST on Saturday (July 27, 2024), the prelims started at 1 am BST on Sunday (July 28), and the main card started at 3 am BST on Sunday (July 28).
Ergo, the live broadcast came during US prime time. For US viewers, the early prelims started at 6 pm ET / 3 pm PT on Saturday (July 27), the prelims commenced at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT on Saturday (July 27), and the main card at 10 pm ET / 7 pm PT on Saturday (July 27).
Prominent UK fighters like Leon Edwards, Tom Aspinall, Paddy Pimblett, and Arnold Allen were booked for UFC 304. On that note, many argued the UFC should've held the event during UK prime time as opposed to US prime time.
Tom Aspinall noted that he requested the UFC to reconsider the timings but was turned down. America's Curtis Blaydes also protested, suggesting that the UFC wouldn't have a megastar like Conor McGregor fight at such an odd time. Then-UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards hired a sleep specialist to help deal with the UFC 304 timings.
Liverpool's Paddy Pimblett was displeased and opined that the timings favored the American fighters on the card. Taking to his YouTube channel, Arnold Allen sounded off after the event. Allen pointed out that the lack of sleep while prepping for the odd timings resulted in him getting into a car crash before the event, his first crash since he started driving at 19.
Check out Allen's comments below:
Real reason why UFC 304 had a delayed start time (despite backlash from fighters and fans)
Before his defeat at UFC 304, Leon Edwards appeared on The MMA Hour. Edwards spoke about having inquired regarding the unorthodox timings with UFC CBO Hunter Campbell. 'Rocky' noted that per Campbell, the timings were in accordance with US pay-per-view (PPV) timings.
Edwards recalled being told that the UFC 304 PPV was originally booked to take place in Utah, USA. When it was later shifted to Manchester, England, the UFC and its broadcast partner ESPN couldn't find a slot to reschedule it for the UK prime time.
Watch Edwards discuss the topic below (0:50):
During the UFC Abu Dhabi (Aug. 3, 2024) post-event press conference, UFC exec David Shaw aka Dave Shaw was asked about the timings of the UFC 308 (Oct. 26, 2024) card that'll take place in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Shaw asserted that UFC 308 would take place during UAE primetime.
Shaw was also asked about why the UFC 308 event was booked to match the local prime time and the UFC 304 card wasn't. The UFC's 'Head of International and Content' responded by highlighting that only a limited number of events can be booked for non-US prime time slots:
"Yeah. So, there's a few things at play. Number one, there's only so many off-prime US events that we can have, right? A lot of it -- a great deal of revenues for the company are driven by ESPN. So, for us, we need to make sure that we're balancing the number of events that are prime time US vs. off prime US Manchester was a Dana [White] initiative."
Shaw recalled that the UFC 204 PPV, headlined by Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson in Manchester in 2016, had similar timings as UFC 304. He further signaled that UFC 304 was great and most fans stayed till the main event was done, adding that it was sunny when they left the arena.
Nevertheless, he's seemingly unsure whether the UFC's future UK cards would have such timings. Shaw said:
"Dana said like, 'We've got all these champs. We've got a surging fanbase in the UK. We've got a multitude of extremely strong events in the last three-four years in the UK, plenty of events here in London. In order for us to fit this in at the right time, the opportunity was to come with a middle-of-the-night pay-per-view, which we've done before with [Michael] Bisping."
Check out Shaw's comments below:
Watch Shaw's press conference segment below (*comments about the cards' timings at 21:35-23:04):