Interim Champ Tom Aspinall Sees Curtis Blaydes as ‘Lose-Lose’ Fight at UFC 304

Aspinall reckons Curtis Blaydes is "not the most popular guy" in the heavyweight division.

Nov 11, 2023; New York, NY, USA; Tom Aspinall (blue gloves) reacts to beating Sergei Pavlovich (red gloves) during UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports / Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Tom Aspinall didn't have to take a fight so soon, but he did so anyway.

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The UFC's Interim Heavyweight Champion is apparently done with his victory tour as he prepares to wrap the gloves on once again, this time across the cage from a familiar foe. Six months after knocking out Sergei Pavlovich in New York City, Aspinall has got the call to fight Curtis Blaydes in home territory.

Aspinall will co-headline UFC 304 from Manchester, England on July 27th with his interim heavyweight title on the line. Aspinall has already faced Blaydes before, with the American walking away with the TKO victory at UFC London in 2022 after Aspinall injured his knee in just 15 seconds.

Jul 23, 2022; London, United Kingdom; Tom Aspinall (blue gloves) falls to the ground while fighting Curtis Blaydes during UFC Fight Night at O2 Arena. Mandatory Credit: Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports / Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports

The loss to Blaydes is the only asterisk on Aspinall's 7-1 UFC record, and the Brit will hope to wipe the slate clean once and for all. Other than avenging his previous loss and obviously added validity to his interim title, Aspinall doesn't think there's much more payoff from a win over the #4-ranked Blaydes.

"There's unfinished business there, evidently," Aspinall told The Mac Life. "I said this before we last fought, which is over two years ago now. I believe that Curtis is like the toughest matchup in the division for me, stylistically. This is no disrespect to Curtis, he's a bit of a lose-lose fight in the fact that he's not that popular, is what I'm saying."

"He's not that popular. The guys who you wanna fight are the guys who stylistically you match up well with and they're really popular. They're the guys you wanna fight. And Curtis is kind of the opposite of that. I'm not saying anything bad about Curtis or anything, but he's not the most popular guy ever and he's really good. So I'm looking forward to it though. None of that really makes a difference for me. I'm preparing now 100% for Curtis."

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After winning the interim heavyweight title off Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295, many believed Aspinall's next bout would be a title unification against champion Jon Jones. But, that's simply not the case as Jones is waiting for a fight with Stipe Miocic instead.

Some Saturday math for everyone
Curtis 0 + Tom 0 championship belts = 0
Jon 14 + Stipe 6 championship belts = 20

To be fair to Curtis and Tom, I didn’t count my interim title win either lol. But yeah, sure, you guys are fighting for the real belt. #Facts

— BONY (@JonnyBones) May 18, 2024

Jones has taken a ton of criticism for how he's plotting his final title reign, preferring to take the reward of fighting Miocic rather than the risk of a younger, hungrier Aspinall, who's been very adamant about wanting an opportunity to face Jones for the undisputed belt.

"I honestly think Jon Jones's a legend. I respect what he's done in the Octagon, but right now he's quite irrelevant to what I'm doing. I'm fighting Curtis Blaydes and if I can't get up for this one, coming off a loss against him and trying to redeem myself, then what can I get up for? Like, I need to be a million percent focused on this and this is said with a lot of respect. I have nothing against Jon, regardless of what he says, it's all bollocks. But I'm like 100% invested in beating Curtis and that's it."

"I'm not really concerning myself on it," Aspinall said of Jones and the interim title conversation. "I get like itchy knuckles quite easy. I wanna fight people. I don't fare well sitting around and waiting. Evidently, like there's a lot of people who are in my spot now who wouldn't take a fight with Curtis Blaydes or Ciryl Gane or somebody like that. They'd probably just wait out for the undisputed [title], but I wanna fight."

Curtis Blaydes isn't batting an eye on Jon Jones either, as the UFC heavyweight contender is locked on the interim titleholder Tom Aspinall. "Razor" Blaydes wouldn't be surprised if Jones skipped out on facing the winner of this upcoming title fight.

“He could prove me wrong, but I don’t believe Jon’s going to continue fighting after the Stipe fight. He’d have to prove me wrong, but as of right now, that’s my belief," Blaydes said of Jones to Middle Easy.

The interim heavyweight title bout between Aspinall and Blaydes will feature as the co-main event of UFC 304 on July 27, and UFC gold will also be on the line in the night's main event when Leon Edwards defends his welterweight strap against #2-ranked Belal Muhammad.

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