UFC 304 to take place in Manchester on July 27 with Brits Edwards & Aspinall set to shine in new £365m Co-op Live Arena
THE UFC will return to the UK this year – but they won’t be touching down in London.
For the first time in the best part of a decade, mixed martial arts’ top organisation will host a card outside of the English capital.
And the MMA leader will be returning with a second pay-per-view event in as many years.
UFC 304 will take place at the brand-spanking-new Co-op Arena in Manchester on July 27.
Welterweight and interim heavyweight champions Leon Edwards and Tom Aspinall are expected to feature in the main and co-main events of the year.
Edwards, Britain’s second UFC champion, is expected to defend his title in a rematch against surging welterweight mainstay Belal Muhammad.
Aspinall, meanwhile, is expected to defend his interim strap in a rematch with Curtis Blaydes.
UFC president Dana White teased the duo being on the card late last month.
He told TNT Sports: “I have an English heavyweight champion [Tom Aspinall] and lots of other European stars.
“There are two champions now out of England, so we have these teams that build all their different pieces to the puzzle.
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“Then we come together with me, and then I start trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together.
“I have got great fights lined up for the UK fans, and I’m excited to get back there.”
Liverpudlian duo Molly McCann and Paddy Pimblett are also expected feature on the main card.
As is UFC newbie Michael ‘Venom’ Page, who bamboozled Kevin Holland in his octagon debut last month.
The UFC’s trip to Manchester marks their first venture out of London since their trip to Glasgow in 2017.
Manchester is no stranger to holding UFC events having staged cards at the MEN Arena.
UFC 204, which took place in October 2016, was the last event the city hosted and saw Michael Bisping register his sole defence of the middleweight title in a rematch with long-time rival Dan Henderson.