Tom Aspinall should not be defending his interim Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight title. However, he’ll do exactly that when he rematches Curtis Blaydes in UFC 304’s co-main event this month (Sat., July 27, 2024).
The British superstar claimed interim gold in the absence of the undisputed titleholder, Jon Jones, after “Bones” tore his pectoral muscle late last year. Jones’ injury dissolved his planned first title defense against former two-time divisional kingpin, Stipe Miocic, which was already a questionable pairing.
Despite Miocic having not fought since a 2021 knockout loss and Jones being sidelined since he won the vacant strap in March 2023, the promotion is sticking to making the fight. Depending on how UFC 304 plays out, former Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier, can see a serious fan revolt on the horizon.
“Could you imagine if Tom Aspinall just washes out Curtis Blaydes?” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “Then the firestorm that would start to gather for him to fight [Jon] Jones? For there to truly be an uprising, it would have to be Aspinall destroying Blaydes. Only because of this: You’ve seen Curtis Blaydes lose before, so people would think, ‘Oh, he beat Tom Aspinall, but we’ve seen him get beat by Francis [Ngannou] and lose to other guys.’
“If Aspinall goes through Blaydes, in the way that he did Sergei [Pavlovich], and he’s only lost because of that injury default, people would lose their minds,” he continued. “Almost insisting that he and Jones fight, if Tom Aspinall can get through this fight, and he’s clean and looks dominant, there may be such a fan uprising that the UFC may have to be forced to make Jones vs. Aspinall. I don’t know what that would mean for my man Stipe [Miocic], but it sounds like if it does happen, he’s okay with it.”
Blaydes is the only fighter to have defeated Aspinall in the champion’s eight-fight UFC run (14-3 overall). “Razor” scored the win over Aspinall when their UFC London main event ended unceremoniously by a 15-second technical knockout when Aspinall tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in July 2022 (watch highlights).