Tom Aspinall continued his track record of finishing fights early on, in the co-main event of UFC 304 this past weekend.
His interim title defense against Curtis Blaydes came to an end in just one minute of the very first round, when he dropped his opponent and landed some follow-up strikes on the floor to get the win.
The speed and timing of Aspinall was on full display once again, despite taking a punch or two from Blaydes in that opening minute.
By his own admission, the Brit was still taking some time to work out his opponent’s range and timing after being hit when he thought Blaydes would would miss.
What makes him so dangerous is that this didn’t even matter in the grand scheme of things as once a shot of his own landed clean, he was able to get the finish.
Kamaru Usman Says He Had No Issues With Blaydes Stoppage, Calls Aspinall The Best Heavyweight
Given that it was the jab from Aspinall that tipped Blaydes off balance, some questioned whether it was an early stoppage because nothing appeared to really hurt the challenger.
Kamaru Usman doesn’t believe this was a factor as he stated during the UFC 304 review episode of the Pound 4 Pound podcast.
Usman said that similar to Aspinall’s own view of the finish, Blaydes had nowhere to go and was only going to take more damage if the referee didn’t step in.
“Everyone is speculating, ‘Oh, was it an early stoppage.’ At first, I would think so but this is the thing with big boys though. Yes, the jab didn’t completely [drop him]…like it was just kind of momentum. He’s coming in, he ate the jab, okay he sat him down. But when he sat him down, Curtis was still there, Curtis saw him coming, Curtis tried to get back up but those are big boys.
“He fell on Curtis, he jumped on Curtis and when you jumped on him I mean those boys don’t move as fast and then he starts wailing off and there was moments to where Curtis was there trying to get up, a shot lands on the side of the head, he goes back down, he tries to get up so it was just kind of this grey area. I don’t think it was an early stoppage I just think Curtis was kind of caught off guard and was unable to recover quickly enough before Tom Aspinall was able to pounce on him and completely finish the fight.”
Usman was also very high in his praise for the interim champion, labelling him as the best in his weight class despite the presence of Jon Jones.
“I just think it was a tremendous fight. I think the speed of Tom Aspinall sets him apart from every heavyweight now. His speed, his awareness, his fearlessness to go in there and know that, ‘Hey, my shots are going to get there before yours.’ I think you have to put him in there, you have to say that Tom Aspinall right now is the best heavyweight.”
Continue Reading Kamaru Usman Quashes Notion Of Early Stoppage In Tom Aspinall’s Win Over Curtis Blaydes: ‘The Best Heavyweight’ at MMA News.