Tom Aspinall feels UFC 304 interim title fight against Curtis Blaydes is no-win situation: “He’s not that popular”

Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall admits he doesn’t feel there is much upside to fighting Curtis Blaydes.

Aspinall gets to remain active when he collides with Blaydes at the UFC 304 pay-per-view in Manchester on July 27th, but he risks losing out on a claim to an undisputed title fight. Aspinall had been hoping the UFC would forgo the planned bout between UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, but that doesn’t appear to be happening.

So, what does Aspinall gain by beating Blaydes aside from avenging a 15-sceond loss, which was due to injury? Not much, says the English bruiser.

RELATED: CURTIS BLAYDES FEELS UFC 304 REMATCH WITH TOM ASPINALL FOR INTERIM GOLD IS “POETIC”

Tom Aspinall Feels He’s in No-Win Situation with Curtis Blaydes Rematch

During an interview with Oscar Willis of The Mac Life, Tom Aspinall admitted that he doesn’t feel beating Curtis Blaydes would hold much weight considering that he isn’t the most known heavyweight out there (h/t MMAKnockout.com).

“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,” Aspinall said. “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.”

Despite how he feels about the matchup, Aspinall insists he’s solely focused on the challenge of Blaydes. He also said he’s still looking forward to the matchup.

Aspinall has made it clear that if he is able to thwart Blaydes in front of a favorable crowd, then he will wait for an undisputed championship fight. If Tom does win, it’ll be interesting to see what transpires with Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic. Even if that fight is booked, Aspinall isn’t necessarily guaranteed to face the winner given retirement rumors for both Jones and Miocic.