UFC 304 fight grades: Aspinall, Pimblett earn A's, while one fight gets an F - ESPN

The UFC's return to Manchester, England, had high expectations. On a card headlined by two British champions and littered with talent from the United Kingdom, UFC 304 had the potential to be a memorable night for fans. Aside from two rematches for championship gold, UFC 304 had a heated rivalry between flyweight contenders and two of Liverpool's biggest stars performing in front of their countrymen. What could go wrong?

Did the main and co-main event deliver? What fights surprised and which ones underwhelmed?

After each MMA pay-per-view, we break down and assess the quality of each matchup and the fight card as a whole based on skill displayed, competitiveness and what is at stake. A bout that earns an A or higher could be considered one of the year's best fights, such as Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje at UFC 300. Fights that earn a D-minus or lower will be fights that could be considered the worst matchups of the year. Think Rose Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza at UFC 274 or Francis Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis at UFC 226.

Here are the grades for all 14 fights on the card — including two As and one F that teased us during the lead-up of the event.

Grade: A

Have we seen anything like Aspinall at this level? What Aspinall is doing to the heavyweight division is unparalleled and there's only one hurdle left for him to clear in his pursuit of greatness. But before we can talk about a potential fight with Jon Jones, it's worth mentioning that the time you are taking to read this may be longer than it took for Aspinall to finish Blaydes. The only person to finish Blaydes faster than Aspinall? Francis Ngannou, who did it in 45 seconds back in 2018. But Blaydes is far better now than he was back then and ended up getting wiped out