Walking out to the familiar beats of the Mortal Kombat theme, Curtis Blaydes looked to upset interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall in the co-main event of UFC 304 on Saturday.
The pair had first met roughly two years ago, only for Aspinall to fall to a leg injury early in the fight. Though Blaydes had earned a TKO victory as a result, the matter was far from settled. As a bonus, the stakes in the rematch were even higher, thanks to Aspinall’s interim title victory late last year in the wakes of Jon Jones falling to injury.
Off the opening bell, Blaydes got his hands going, but before long it was Aspinall punching his way into a clinch, putting Curtis on the fence. That didn’t last long, and they moved back to center, with Aspinall clipping Blaydes seconds later! Blaydes was rocked with a jab, and went down; from there Aspinall was all over him, taking the back and landing ground n’ pound, violent lefts and rights in rapid succession.
Within moments, the ref was in to make the save, giving Aspinall his first successful title defense, ruled a KO. Blaydes would protest the stoppage, but had little grounds to do so given the lack of intelligent defense.
“Hello Jon. I have nothing against you personally, but I just think I’m better than you. I just know I can beat you in a fight,” Aspinall said in a message to Jones after the bout. “Sometimes normal people can do extraordinary things, and I’m proof of it,” he’d add.
Official Result: Tom Aspinall def. Curtis Blaydes by KO, Round 1, 1:00
