The title picture at heavyweight in the UFC has a lot of moving parts at the moment. Tom Aspinall is the interim champion and he will be taking on Curtis Blaydes later this year at UFC 304. The winner will take on either Jon Jones or Stipe Miocic at a later date. Ahead of his fight with Aspinall, Curtis Blaydes hailed Tom Aspinall as the true champion of the division and explained why he does not see Jon Jones as a heavyweight.
Ahead of his upcoming fight, Blaydes joined the ‘MMA Hour’ podcast hosted by Ariel Helwani. During the conversation, he dismissed Jon Jones and insisted that he considers Tom Aspinall to be the real champion. He further elaborated on his stance saying,
“No Jon I am sorry, I don’t think you’ve actually fought a heavyweight yet. I am sorry I don’t. I view Aspinall as the guy with the real belt. The boy (Aspinall) looks good. There is nothing bad you can say about him in the octagon. I am going to be honest, he (Jones) does not look like a heavyweight. He looked a little top heavy. He doesn’t really have the legs of a heavyweight. I don’t view him as a heavyweight.”
Blaydes stated that if Jones was a true champion he would not hesitate in taking on Tom Aspinall. According to ‘Razor’ Jones has his mind fixed on a money fight with Miocic which Blaydes understands.
However, Blaydes feels that if that is the case, Jones should concede the belt to Aspinall who, he believes, is the true champion of the division. Needless to say, Jones will have something to say on this matter as he has been extremely vocal on Twitter over the past few months.
A closer look at Tom Aspinall vs Curtis Blaydes
Blaydes goes into the fight with Aspinall on the back of an impressive second-round knockout win over Jailton Almeida. Aspinall on the other hand is on an impressive two-fight win streak with both wins coming in the first round itself. The fight is an excellent opportunity for Aspinall to avenge the most recent loss in his career so far.
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Interestingly, Blaydes and Aspinall previously faced each other in July 2022. However, the fight ended inside the first 30 seconds itself after Aspinall succumbed to a freak injury in front of his home crowd. Hence, ‘The Asp’ will be aiming to avenge the loss and defend his belt at UFC 304 in a few weeks.
