UFC 304 goes down from the brand new, Coop Live Arena in Manchester, England. A pair of title fights headline the card, however, the preliminary card is also stacked with plenty of European talent.
With that being said, two Irish stars who feature on the card may be on their last chance having both convincingly lost their debuts.
Female flyweight, Shauna Bannon clashes with late notice replacement, Alice Ardelean. In the welterweight division, Sam Patterson clashes with Irish scrapper, Kiefer Crosbie.
Bannon in for a Battle
Mama B, Bannon will look to rebound from her first professional loss in her UFC debut. Back in July of last year, Bannon made her debut against Bruna Brasil (who also features on this card). She would get beaten on the night, despite landing a total of 51 more strikes across all three rounds.
She showed a hole in her game when she was easily taken down and controlled for periods with no real knowledge of how to get out of difficult positions.
Unluckily for the Irish native, Ardelean has a good ground game and good wrestling, which could lead to a long night for Bannon.
Her weaknesses come as no real surprise as she joined the UFC with a record of just 5-0 having beaten opponents with a combined record of 14-7. That inexperience shouldn’t be too much of an issue in Manchester, however. Although Ardelean is debuting in the UFC, she has a 9-5 record, facing opponents with a combined record of 21-23, with her last opponent sporting a record of 0-3. She was scheduled to compete on the contender series, however, got an early call-up.
Uphill Battle for BDK
After a storied career in which all of his fights have been battles, BDK Kiefer Crosbie finally, at age 33 debuted in the UFC. Crosbie was familiar to UFC fans previously for being a sparring partner of Conor McGregor‘s in his early UFC career, however, as his own career progressed, he featured on plenty of Bellator cards.
He moved to the regional scene picking up two wins, including a win over UFC veteran, Alex Oliveira before debuting in the UFC. He even had a ‘knock’ in the world of crossover boxing, facing Aaron Chalmers. Despite losing his promotional debut against Kevin Jousset, Crosbie has a lot more to offer than what he showed in Paris.
He faces a tough test in Brit, Sam Patterson. The Future gained a place in the UFC with a victory on the contender series, however, was brutally knocked out in his full promotional debut in just 1:15. He put his lightweight days behind him and moved up to 170lbs in dominant fashion. Patterson blasted Yohan Lainesse to a finish in just 2:03.
Crosbie will look for a war as usual and if he can trick Patterson into exchanging with him, it could be a short night for the former BRAVE FC man, however, if Patterson is sensible and looks to ground Crosbie, it’s more than likely going to be 0-2 for the Irishman in the UFC.
