Tom Aspinall has been patient.
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) interim Heavyweight champion has been hoping to collide with undisputed titleholder, Jon Jones, since he claimed his crown at UFC 295 this past November 2023. However, Aspinall will instead have to face a familiar face first in the first UFC interim title defense in 11 years.
Aspinall, 31, will rematch Curtis Blaydes in UFC 304’s co-main event in Manchester, England on July 27, 2024. After that, the two titles in the land of giants must be unified, believes Aspinall.
“My confidence has grown loads since then. Just everything’s better,” Aspinall told talkSPORT. “I’m a new version of myself than I was when I fought him last time. I think he’s improved as well so whole new fight this time.
“I’m over it at this point,” he added about Jones. “I’m fighting Curtis Blaydes. It’s a tough fight and I’m preparing for Curtis so Jon Jones and all the rest of the politics are pretty irrelevant to me right now. Focused on him and nothing else. If I win this one, which I believe I will, the next fight has to be for undisputed [gold]. Definitely. I’ll wait it out if I have to after this one. Right now, that doesn’t exist.”
Aspinall vs. Blaydes 1 resulted in the only UFC loss of Aspinall’s career (7-1, 14-3 overall) when he suffered a 15-second technical knockout loss (watch highlights) via torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Aspinall has since scored sub-80-second finishes over Marcin Tybura (watch highlights) and Sergei Pavlovich (watch highlights).
Meanwhile, Jones is expected to be rebooked against former two-time champion, Stipe Miocic, who he was originally scheduled to fight at UFC 295 until he tore his pectoral muscle.