For Tom Aspinall, the theme of this UFC 304 fight week is “full circle.”
The interim UFC heavyweight champion’s gaze is a laser aimed directly at Curtis Blaydes, the man Aspinall faced two years ago for all of 15 seconds before blowing out his knee without combat contact.
The Atherton, England native is doing so in Manchester, for all intents and purposes his hometown as well as the site of the behemoth Briton’s pro mixed martial arts debut 10 years ago this December.
“If I can’t enjoy this one, I might as well retire, to be honest,” Aspinall told The Post on Tuesday, exactly two years removed from the devastating injury that kept him out for a full year and, he has said, refocused his commitment to the sport. “This is my absolute dream. … There’s a very, very small percentage of people walking around on planet Earth who can actually get to live their real dreams, and for me, this is it: defending a UFC title in my hometown. That’s it; that’s my dream.
“So, no matter what happens this weekend, getting to this point where I am now, it’s all been worth it, just to experience the walkout that’s going to be on Saturday night.”
It’ll be Saturday night in the United States, but locally Aspinall and Blaydes won’t be hitting the cage until well past 4 a.m., with the pay-per-view event scheduled for a 10 p.m. Eastern start.
Nonetheless, it’s a second chance for Aspinall (14-3, 14 finishes) to show the world he is better than Blaydes — and vice versa, given the nature of the official victory that went the way of this weekend’s challenger.
“He got a win. He got his win money, which is great. I didn’t get that,” says Aspinall laughing off the last part. “I got to sit on the couch for a year with a big, swollen leg. So he definitely got the better side of it all.
“But I’m sure he’s still not satisfied about it, so we’re gonna settle it this weekend, anyway.”
Blaydes (18-4, 13 finishes) is the type of fighter Aspinall prefers to face in terms of the extracurriculars, as the Chicago native who trains in Colorado is not one for the drama the interim champ could do without.
But the American brings a different look to the table than most of the elite heavyweights on the UFC roster in that his wrestling has been the bread and butter throughout his career — though the standup knockouts have come more frequently in recent years, with two in his last four fights.
Blaydes isn’t quite the unstoppable force in that regard, but Aspinall has been a touch closer to the immovable object.
More accurately, he’s the nigh-impossible object to keep down, as Aspinall holds the UFC record (five fights minimum) for least time spent on his back — officially all of one second against, yep, Blaydes.
“Curtis can try me if he wants,” Aspinall dares. “That’s probably where I spent the most in this camp is on my back. With guys on top of me. Curtis Blaydes is not a very comfortable guy to train for.
“See, the way I work it is I work with multiple training partners. So, I’ll be starting from [the] bottom, I’ll get him off [of me]; the energy that it takes to get a big guy off, you expend a lot of energy. And then I restart with a fresh partner. It’s exhausting, man. It’s exhausting training for this guy. I’ve done everything I can.”
Aspinall is a finisher to the core, as he also hold the UFC mark for shortest average fight time (2:10).
Only once since his 2020 UFC debut has Aspinall seen the second round, and he has never made it through two full pro MMA rounds.
That’s in contrast to Blaydes, who frequently ground down opponents to either finish them with strikes in the grappling phase or outpoint them, in one case earning the judges’ nod in a five-rounder — though he faded over the final two frames of that win over Alexander Volkov.
Aspinall again says he’s put in his best prep work, but he concedes it is the unknown.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine, but I’ve not been there yet,” he says, “so, we’ll see.”
Regardless of the winner, the fight itself is a rarity in the UFC as Aspinall becomes just the third fighter to defend an interim title rather than unify it with the mainline belt, be elevated to undisputed status or have the title revoked.
Only three men had done it before: heavyweights Andrei Arlovski and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira plus bantamweight Renan Barao, with only Arlovski and Barao successfully defending the title and, later, being elevated to undisputed champions.
The holdup in unifying the heavyweight crown comes from champion Jon Jones’ reluctance to face anyone but former longtime champion Stipe Miocic for what he views as a legacy fight.
Jones and Miocic were to headline at Madison Square Garden last November before Jones suffered a torn pectoral muscle, creating the interim title Aspinall won with a knockout of Sergei Pavlovich.
The heavyweight division will remain fractured, and as much as Aspinall sought a fight with Jones to no avail, he has tabled any distractions with regard to undisputed vs. interim titles, Jones, or anyone else who isn’t Blaydes.
“I’m not really thinking about that, to be honest,” says Aspinall of the prospect of eventually being elevated beyond the interim title. “I’m a bit over that. I just want to beat Curtis at this point. I’m not really bothered by what’s happening going forward.”