The UFC 304 announcements keep coming.
A trio of British talent of Christian Leroy Duncan, Oban Elliott and Michael Parkin have all been added to the ever growing and ever impressive card set for the Co-Op Live Arena on July 27.
After an extensive amateur career, Duncan made the move to the professional ranks in 2020, the Welterweight got straight to work on the major promotions as he signed with Cage Warriors ahead of his professional debut. Throughout his amateur career, Duncan’s eye catching style caught the eyes of many and this transferred to his professional game with many opponents struggling to read exactly what was coming at them. Within 18 months, ‘CLD’ had built an impressive 5-0 record which led to a showdown against the fellow unbeaten, and then reigning champion, Djati Melan. It only seemed right that Duncan would claim the title in style, when he landed a monstrous flying knee in the third round to send the champion reeling to the floor, before following up with some heavy strikes before being crowned the new king at 170lbs. He then went on to successfully defend his title against Dusko Todorovic before signing with the UFC.
His promotional debut came in front of a home crowd at UFC 286, in which he faced Duško Todorovi?. The bout was brought to a premature end when he Todorovi? suffered a knee injury a little under two minutes into the contest. Known for his quick turnaround time, CLD was back in action just three months later against Armen Petrosyan and was handed his first professional loss by way of unanimous decision. Since the loss, Duncan has competed twice more and racked up two wins against Denis Tiuliulin and Claudio Ribeiro.
At UFC 304, the 28 year old will faced the seasoned Robert Bryczek. Prior to his promotional debut loss to Ihor Potieria, Bryczek was riding a cool five fight win streak and a regular feature on OKTAGON cards.
Since his last loss 2021, Oban Elliott has been on a tear. ‘The Welsh Gangster’ is currently on a 6 fight win streak as he prepares for a Welterweight bout against Preston Parsons. After starting is professional career as a Lightweight, Elliott made the move to Welterweight and has found much success. Although the first time out at the new weight witnessed Elliott being handed the second loss of his career, he quickly found his feet at 170lbs and caught a first round submission win against Herkus Lukosiunas before handing former champion Matthew Bonner a unanimous decision loss. Opitimising ‘anywhere, anytime’, the Welshman even moved up to Middleweight to face Sean McCormac and defeated Irishman by way of decision.
In his final fight for the promotion Elliott defeated the current Cage Warriors Welterweight champion, James Sheehan at Cage Warriors 153 before receiving a call up to the 2023 Contender Series. An exciting majority decision against Kaik Brtio was enough for the Welshman to earn a UFC contract. In his first walk to the Octagon, Elliott faced Val Woodburn at UFC 296 and realised his dream, earning his first UFC victory after a hard fought 15 minute affair, with the scorecards reading 30-27, 30-27, 30-27.
Now, for the first time since signing with the UFC, Elliott has the chance to fight in front of a British crowd when he makes the walk in Manchester against Parsons. The American will make the trip over from the States to on the back of a unanimous decision win against Matthew Semelsberger earlier this year. The bout will be Parsons’ fifth under the UFC banner, currently holding a 2-2 promotional record. With 14 finishes between them, fans could be in for a Welterweight war when the two meet.
Mick Parkin will be looking to continue his rise through the Heavyweight division when he takes on Lukasz Brzeski in a Heavyweight affair. After making a name for himself on the UK domestic scene, Parkin’s shot at the big time came in the form of the 2022 Season of the Contender Series. After submitting the unbeaten Eduardo Neves in the first round earned him a UFC contract and almost a year later he made his UFC debut against Jamal Pogues.
Last time out was undoubtedly his biggest challenge to date, when he faced Mohammaed Usman. After a tough first round, Parkin pulled the fight round and earned his third successive unanimous decision win. Up next for Apsinall’s stablemate, Brzeski will present new challenges. The Polishman’s UFC tenure got off to a rough start losing three fights on the bounce, before picking up his first promotional victory earlier this year against Valter Walker.
