For UK-based MMA fans, watching UFC 304 live as it happened late Saturday night (early Sunday morning) was always going to be a challenge. Having a main card begin after 3:15 am local time isn’t easy for even the most devoted fans of competitive violence to ward off a visit by the sandman.
Still, Dana White‘s staff constructed a card that was worth staying up close to sunrise to watch. An event predicated on locally-based stars meant that those fans who bought tickets for UFC 304 at Co-op Live in Manchester suddenly didn’t care that they’d be losing out on important overnight rest in order to watch combat sports action.