Daniel Cormier advises UFC 304 fighters on how to handle fighting in the early morning hours in Manchester

UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier feels the unorthodox start times at UFC 304 should be a significant part of fight camps for those competing on the card.

UFC 304 marks the promotion’s return to the UK on July 27th in Manchester. The card is expected to include UFC titleholders Tom Aspinall and Leon Edwards as the main attractions.

While UK MMA fans are eagerly awaiting UFC 304, they were met with some disgruntling news this week about the event. The first fight of the prelims is scheduled to kick off at 11 p.m. local time, and the main card will start at 3 a.m.

That means that fighters traveling from around the world will have to fight at an abnormal time in Manchester. Cormier, who traveled around the world during his legendary career, feels fighters should prepare accordingly.

Daniel Cormier weighs in on UFC 304 late start times

In a recent episode of Good Guy/Bad Guy with Chael Sonnen, Cormier weighed in on the unorthodox fight times for UFC 304.

“When people are faced with impossible odds, they tend to find ways to overcome. That’s what happened to me, and that’s what I think is going to happen to these fighters,” Cormier said. “I took sleeping pills in the morning and stayed up all night, never went to bed. So I’m staying on American time because I know that I need to treat this as if I live here. You gotta acclimate to the place you’re in, and I think it’ll be a factor…

“It’ll be a bigger factor for those who go later. Those who go on Tuesday of fight week, like normal, you gotta go [earlier]. Two weeks, that’s what we did in wrestling, and what I always did in fighting when I was in a different time zone…that’s how to do it as if it’s happening at a normal hour.”

UK UFC fans have had to put up with late start times for years. Most of the UFC pay-per-views, especially those that take place in the United States, begin in the early morning hours in England.

Similar to the high altitude in Salt Lake City, fighters will need to prepare days in advance for the UK time difference. If fighters follow Cormier’s advice, they could handle the immense jet lag appropriately.