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Blaydes (18-5, 1 NC) challenged Tom Aspinall (15-3) for the interim heavyweight title in the co-main event at UFC 304 in the latter’s home of Manchester, England. The two previously clashed in 2022, with Blaydes picking up an injury stoppage TKO win after Aspinall blew out his knee in 15 seconds. In the rematch, Blaydes fared well in the initial exchanges, but a single jab set “Razor” down, and Aspinall finished the job with ruthless ground-and-pound to notch the stoppage one minute into the fight.
Addressing his defeat, Blaydes apologized for throwing his premeditated gameplan out the window after landing on Aspinall early. “Razor” remained confident that he would have defeated the Brit had he stuck to the strategy designed by his coaches.
“Sorry guys,” Blaydes wrote, “I got greedy when I touched him early and threw out the amazing gameplay that my coaches Vinnie Lopez [and] Cody Donovan came up with that would’ve worked I’m sure of it. No excuses Tom was on point tonight. I know this isn’t the end of my journey but damnit, I know I’m better than tonight’s performance. I appreciate all the support truly it’s been an eye opening experience to have so many [people] rocking with me”.
Blaydes earned a crack at the interim strap courtesy of a second-round comeback stoppage of then-surging Jailton Almeida. After his 2022 victory over Aspinall, Blaydes competed in a de facto title eliminator against Sergei Pavlovich, succumbing to strikes in the first round. His triumphant opponent Aspinall has gone past the opening round only once in eight UFC wins, with the injury loss against Blaydes the only blemish on his promotional record. The promotion stated that Aspinall’s next test would be against the winner of the unannounced battle between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic rumored to be coming in November.
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