This past Saturday night in the co-main event of UFC 304, the interim heavyweight title was on the line. The interim champion Tom Aspinall (15-3) was defending his title against the only man to hold a victory over him inside the octagon in Curtis “Razor” Blaydes (18-5, 1 NC).
In their first fight, Aspinall blew out his knee in the first fifteen seconds leading to a Blaydes TKO win. In this matchup, I figured it was going to be really tough for Blaydes to get the win. I just didn’t see a path to victory outside of landing a big bomb on the feet. Well, in the first minute, Blaydes clipped Aspinall a couple of times.
He landed some big shots that Aspinall definitely felt. Aspinall closed the distance and forced a clinch to reset. Once they were back out as space, Aspinall landed a perfect 1-2 that sat Blaydes down. Aspinall followed up with big shots and the fight was over in 60 seconds as Tom Aspinall retained his interim UFC heavyweight title.
What’s next after UFC 304?
Curtis Blaydes is in a really tough spot. For years, the knock on him has been that right when he gets close to or at the mountain top, he gets knocked out. Happened against Francis Ngannou, Derrick Lewis, Sergei Pavlovich, and now it’s happened in an interim title fight against Tom Aspinall.
The UFC is in a tricky spot when it comes to Curtis Blaydes. In terms of what’s next, there are a couple of options. I could see Blaydes taking on the winner of the Tai Tuivasa – Jairzinho Rozenstruik fight. Granted, Blaydes already holds a win over Rozenstruik.
The most realistic option in my mind is the winner of the upcoming main event between Serghei Spivac and Marcin Tybura. Both are ranked near the back half of the top ten, but with a win, they’ll be ready for a step up in competition. Blaydes hasn’t fought either of them so regardless of the outcome, it would be a fresh matchup for the UFC.