Blaydes vs Aspinall Preview
The UFC will be heading back to O2 in London, England on Saturday, July 23rd. The main event will be a fight in the heavyweight division with major title implications. #4 Curtis Blaydes will battle #6 Tom Aspinall for UFC Fight Night 208.
Blaydes is riding a two-fight winning streak having most recently defeated Chris Daukuas in March by second round TKO. The 31-year-old has been a considerable title contender at heavyweight since 2018 but has fallen short in fights that he needed to win to earn that elusive title shot. A win on Saturday will preserve his place yet again at the top of the list to challenge for the title.
The Chicago native has only lost three times in his career. Two have come to heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and the other to title challenger Derrick Lewis. He has key victories in his career over Jairzinho Rozenstruick, Alexander Volkov, Junior Dos Santos, Alistair Overeem and Mark Hunt. The Chicago native is aware that a win on Saturday does not guarantee him a title shot as he stares up at formidable fighters in the rankings.
“This is the best mix of youth and different styles we’ve had at heavyweight,” Blaydes said. “One to six is the strongest it’s been in my memory.”
Blaydes does not expect this fight with Aspinall to go to a decision. “If you look at heavyweight history, it’s not too often you see a fight going five full rounds,” he said. “He’s never been to the fourth round, I believe, and he’s a guy who hunts for the finish. And when you have one guy hunting for a finish, that opens the door for the other guy to finish, too. So I don’t know exactly how the fight will play out but it probably isn’t going to go five rounds.”
The fighters in the top 10 of the heavyweight division know how to finish fights and they do it often. Blaydes is no exception, and he has proven that he can use his wrestling and his improved striking to finish fights. “My hands are fast and they’ve always been fast and I’ve always been athletic,” Blaydes said. “But then again, I’ve always known that, yeah, I could stand and strike with someone and the odds would be 60-40 that I’m going to win. But if I take them down, the odds would be 80-20 in my favor.
“I know the fans prefer us to take the risks and slug it out on the feet, but if I had been taking those risks early in my career, I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in now.”
Blaydes is currently ranked fourth at heavyweight but has lost to the champion twice already. He has not fought anyone in the top three and #2 Stipe Miocic is linked to a potential fight with light heavyweight legend Jon Jones. So, with a win on Saturday Blaydes could be looking at a matchup with #1 Ciryl Gane or #3 Tai Tuivasa.
Aspinall has won eight straight fights and is 5-0 in the UFC. He most recently defeated Alexander Volkov by first round submission in London in March for a headlining event. The win was the biggest of his career and it proved that Aspinall could handle the spotlight winning the fight in his own backyard in England. He will have the added advantage or pressure of once again having his hometown on his side against Blaydes.
However, the 29-year-old knows he faces a new challenge in Blaydes due to his wrestling.
“It’s been the most uncomfortable training camp I’ve ever done, We’ve had to start with me in so many bad positions, near enough for every session, with fresh guys on top of me all the time. I’m just preparing for the worst and hoping for the best, same as I do in every fight. I’ll be prepared to get up 50 times if I need to. Hopefully, I won’t have to get up anytime. Hopefully, I’ll be able to use my style and use what I need to use to keep him at bay, but I’m definitely prepared for the worst. It’s definitely the most prepared that I’ve ever been for a fight before,” said Aspinall.
Aspinall has finished all 12 of his victories but does not necessarily go into fights thinking finish. “My mindset is just I'm not emotionally attached to anything. I'm not looking for a finish, I'm not looking to go the distance, I'm just being free and living in the moment. I'm not thinking about anything. I'm thinking about different techniques that I can see along the way. It's not like I've got to finish it, I'm looking heavily for the finish. To be honest, all my finishes come when I'm not looking for the finish. Each and every fight, I go in and expect to do the full distance. So yeah, it's never been like, oh, I'm desperate to get to finish because it's not that at all. I'm more doing the opposite, if anything.” Aspinall said.
Aspinall is potentially one win away from a title shot and he like Blaydes is looking up at the top three, and a potential matchup with either Gane or Tuivasa is intriguing should he get by Blaydes on Saturday.
The Rest of the Main Card:
Middleweight - #8 Jack Hermansson vs. #9 Chris Curtis
Lightweight - Paddy Pimblett vs. Jordan Leavitt
Light Heavyweight - #11 Nikita Krylov vs. Alexander Gustafsson
Women's Flyweight - Molly McCann vs. Hannah Goldy
Light Heavyweight - #8 Paul Craig vs. #9 Volkan Oezdemir
The Prelims:
Lightweight - Mason Jones vs. Ľudovít Klein
Lightweight - Marc Diakiese vs. Damir Hadžović
Featherweight - Nathaniel Wood vs. Charles Rosa
Featherweight- Makwan Amirkhani vs. Jonathan Pearce
Flyweight - Muhammad Mokaev vs. Charles Johnson
Lightweight - Jai Herbert vs. Kyle Nelson
Women's Flyweight - Victoria Leonardo vs. Mandy Böhm
