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Tom Aspinall, Curtis Blaydes Interim Title Fight Set For UFC 304
Tom Aspinall, Curtis Blaydes Interim Title Fight Set For UFC 304
Tom Aspinall is set to defend the interim heavyweight title against Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event of UFC 304. The fight will go down in Aspinall’s hometown of Manchester, England at the Co-op Live arena. UFC CEO Dana White announced the bout on social media.
The UFC 304 main event will be a welterweight title fight between Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad.
Aspinall won the UFC interim heavyweight title with a first-round knockout against Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295. That victory was a great accomplishment, but it also created copious questions about his future. Undisputed champion Jon Jones is sidelined with a shoulder injury and will likely fight Stipe Miocic when he returns. That left Aspinall out of the mix.
Instead of sitting sidelined waiting for Jones, Aspinall decided to defend the interim title. That is quite uncommon. In all likelihood, it was not worth sitting idol when he could fight in his hometown.
Aspinall’s opponent largely came down between Ciryl Gane and Blaydes. Obviously, the promotion sided with Blaydes. In his most recent fight, Blaydes picked up a knockout win against Jailton Almeida. That made him 4-1 in his last five fights. The only loss in that run came against Pavlovich.
This fight will be a rematch of a bout from 2022. In that fight, Aspinall suffered a knee injury and Blaydes was rewarded with a technical knockout victory. That fight only lasted 17 seconds and did not provide much information on how this matchup will play out.
The winner of this bout will put themself in a sensational position. In a best-case scenario, they will fight the winner of Jones vs. Miocic. If the winner of that fight retires, the interim champion will be elevated to champion status.
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