Curtis Blaydes believes fight with Tom Aspinall is for “real” UFC heavyweight title: “He’s the guy with the real belt”
Curtis Blaydes believes that his fight with Tom Aspinall at UFC 304 is for the real heavyweight title.
‘Razor’ has been out of the octagon since a second-round knockout victory over Jailton Almeida in March at UFC 299. That win was Curtis Blaydes’s fourth in his last five cage appearances, and enough for him to get a crack at Tom Aspinall. The British heavyweight had previously won interim gold with a knockout win over Sergei Pavlovich last November.
The two had previously faced off in July 2022, where Tom Aspinall suffered a first-round stoppage loss due to injury. Two years later, the two are set to run it back in Manchester at UFC 304. While the two are fighting for the interim heavyweight title, Curtis Blaydes believes that the championship might as well be the only one.
Speaking on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, the heavyweight contender discussed his fight with Tom Aspinall. There, Curtis Blaydes was asked point-blank if he felt that the fight is for the “real” heavyweight title, given Jon Jones’ absence from the division. While ‘Bones’ hasn’t retired yet, he’s signaled that he will after his fight with Stipe Miocic later this year.
Curtis Blaydes believes fight with Tom Aspinall is for the “real” UFC heavyweight title
There, Curtis Blaydes responded in the affirmative. While ‘Razor’ has respect for Jon Jones, it’s hard for the heavyweight to see past the fact that ‘Bones’ didn’t even beat Francis Ngannou to hold the championship to begin with. It also doesn’t help that the champion is planning to fight Stipe Miocic, over Tom Aspinall next.
“Absolutely.” Curtis Blaydes responded when asked if he was fighting for the real heavyweight title against Tom Aspinall at UFC 304. “Jon won the heavyweight belt off of Ciryl Gane, who got the belt off of [nobody]. Yeah, yeah [it was vacant]. I know Jon is going to hear this and say ‘What? You don’t view me as the best heavyweight?!’, no Jon, I don’t think you’ve actually fought a heavyweight. I’m sorry.”
He continued, “I view Aspinall as the guy with the real belt. Aspinall [is the best heavyweight on the planet], one hundred percent… There’s nothing bad you can say about him. Absolutely nothing bad. With Jon, I’m going to be honest, he doesn’t look like a heavyweight. When he stepped into that cage with Ciryl Gane, I know I’m not the only one who thought he looked a little top-heavy… He could’ve proved me wrong. He could’ve fought Aspinall and proved everyone wrong, but he wants Stipe.”
What do you make of these comments from Curtis Blaydes? Do you believe he will defeat Tom Aspinall at UFC 304?
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
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Curtis Blaydes Tom Aspinall UFC
