Tom Aspinall knows he’s in for a tough test against Curtis ‘Razor’ Blaydes.
On July 27, Aspinall will become the first fighter in more than a decade to defend an interim title. The Salford, England native will put his temporary title up for grabs against the only man to have handed him a loss inside the Octagon at UFC 304 in Manchester.
Though their first meeting only lasted 15 seconds, Aspinall recognizes that stylistically, Blaydes is the toughest matchup out there for him at heavyweight.
“Curtis is really good, he is the hardest stylistic matchup in the division for me, and I won’t shy away from that,” Aspinall said on an episode of UFC 304 Countdown.
“Defending a world title in Manchester, that is what dreams are made of, mate. I got into this sport to have nights like this. UFC 304, I’m coming in there to finish the fight from the first bell, I want to make a statement by absolutely running through him” (h/t BJPenn.com).
Aside from the devastating knee injury that took him out of his inaugural meeting with ‘Razor’ in 2022, Tom Aspinall is perfect inside the Octagon, scoring seven wins on MMA’s biggest stage with a 100% finish rate that includes five KOs and two submissions.
Tom Aspinall isn’t waiting around for Jon Jones
In November, Aspinall stepped into the co-main event spotlight at Madison Square Garden to challenge Sergei Pavlovich for the interim heavyweight title after undisputed king Jon Jones was forced out of his previously scheduled scrap with Stipe Miocic due to a torn pectoral.
It only took Aspinall 69 seconds to flatline Pavlovich.
In the months since, Aspinall lobbied hard for a unification clash with Jones. Instead, ‘Bones’ will stick to his plan of facing the consensus heavyweight GOAT before even considering a fight with Aspinall — or Blaydes depending on how things go down this Saturday.
After sitting on the sidelines for a year while his knee healed, Tom Aspinall had no interest in waiting around for Jones any longer. Now the question is, can he make it past one of the heaviest hitters in the division? ‘Bones’ certainly doesn’t seem to think so.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Curtis won, I’ve seen scenarios like this time and time again,” Jones wrote in response to a fan on X. “Dude prematurely drinking his own Kool-Aid ends up with a huge piece of humble pie. I mean If Sergei can touch Tom that easy, I’m sure Curtis can too.“
