Tom Aspinall retained the UFC interim heavyweight championship with a punishing first-round knockout of Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304, setting up the English fighter for a potentially colossal matchup with Jon Jones.
Aspinall rocked Blaydes with a big right hand that sent the challenger to the canvas before finishing him off with a series of rights to the head that ended the fight after just one minute of the first round – and put a blockbuster heavyweight bout into focus.
The 31-year-old Aspinall challenged Jones to a unification bout. Jones, widely regarded as one of the best MMA fighters of all time, has been sidelined by a torn pectoral tendon since his last fight in March 2023. He is the reigning heavyweight champion but his absence forced the need for an interim champion. There are still obstacles – among them, Jones has at least one more title defence first, most likely against Stipe Miocic, and he must be cleared to compete.
“I’m the best finisher in the UFC, if I start to snowball you, you’re done,” Aspinall said. “Who wants to see Tom Aspinall v Jon Jones?” he asked a roaring crowd in Manchester, in the UFC’s first trip to the city since 2016. Aspinall, now with a 15-3 record, then looked straight into a camera and called out Jones. “I just think I’m better than you,” he said. “I know I can beat you in a fight.”
The victory was a vindication of sorts for Aspinall, whose only previous UFC loss came against Blaydes. That defeat came in 2022 when Aspinall was forced out of the fight after only 15 seconds when his knee gave way as he attempted a kick. Since his return he has beaten all three of his opponents in the first round.
“I had nothing against [Blaydes] personally, but we needed to put that one to bed,” Aspinall said. “It was a freak accident. Now I’ve got my revenge. Thank God.”
In the other main event in Manchester, Belal Muhammad won the welterweight crown with a five-round unanimous decision victory against the champion Leon Edwards. Muhammad, an American fighter out of Illinois, relished beating the Englishman in his home country. “It sounds like all the people booing have a lot of tears in their eyes,” Muhammad said. “We’ve got a real champion in Chicago now.”
His face bloodied, Muhammad (24-3) dropped to his knees moments after he scored an 11th consecutive win and had the championship belt wrapped around his waist. He has not lost since 2019. Edwards (22-4) defeated Kamaru Usman to win the belt in 2022 and had two successful title defences.
All four fighters in the two title fights wore the new gold gloves introduced at UFC 302 designed to minimise eye pokes. In order to accommodate the traditional 10pm pay-per-view start time for an American east coast audience, the main card’s official start time was 3.33am in Manchester.
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