MANCHESTER, England — Tom Aspinall knocked out Curtis Blaydes in the first round at UFC 304 on Saturday night, defending his interim UFC heavyweight title and setting up a potential epic showdown with fellow division great Jon Jones.
Aspinall rocked Blaydes with a powerful right punch, sending the challenger to the canvas, before finishing the bout with a succession of right punches to the head, ending the bout one minute into the first round and drawing attention to the blockbuster heavyweight contest.
The 31-year-old Aspinall challenged Jones to a unification bout.
Jones, widely regarded as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, has been sidelined since his last fight in March 2023 due to a torn pectoral tendon.
His absence made an interim champion necessary.
There’s still the issue: Jones has at least one more title defense to clear.
“Anybody want to see Tom Aspinall versus Jon Jones?” Aspinall told a cheering crowd as UFC visited Manchester for the first time since 2016.
Aspinall (15-3) looked straight into the camera and called out Jones.
“I just think I’m better than you,” Aspinall said. “I know I can beat you in a match.”
His position as the top heavyweight may be in jeopardy.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the 170-pound division.
Belal Muhammad won the welterweight championship after a five-round unanimous decision over British champion Leon Edwards. The American boxer from Illinois was pleased to beat Edwards in his home country.
“All the people who are booing, I think they have tears in their eyes,” Muhammad said. “Chicago now has a true champion.”
Muhammad (24-3), unbeaten in 11 fights, took to his knees with blood streaming from his face moments after putting the championship belt around his waist. He hasn’t lost since 2019.
Edwards (22-4) won the belt by defeating Kamaru Usman in 2022 and has successfully defended the title twice.
All four fighters in the two title bouts wore the new gold gloves introduced at UFC 302 to minimize eye pokes.
UFC held its first-ever live sporting event at Co-op Live, and the UK’s only music-focused arena was packed with enthusiastic fight fans despite the early start time. For the sake of American audiences, the official start time for the main card was 3:33am UK time, to accommodate the traditional pay-per-view start time of 10pm EDT.
The highlight of the 304 card was two highly anticipated rematches.
Edwards and Muhammad fought to an unsatisfactory no-contest in 2021, but it sparked win streaks for both fighters: Edwards won four in a row, while Muhammad won five in a row.
Blaydes needed just 15 seconds to win their first heavyweight bout after Aspinall injured his knee.
“Now I have my revenge, thank God,” Aspinall said.
The Blades won their next two games one and lost one, and Aspinall made history.
Aspinall became the first British heavyweight to win gold when he knocked out Sergey Pavlovic in the first round at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden last November.
The interim title bout was a late addition to the card after Jones ruptured his pectoral tendon in training just a few weeks before the bout, requiring surgery and forcing his heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic at the Garden to be scrapped.
Jones and Miocic are set to fight in the future, possibly in a superfight at the Garden in November, with the winner facing Aspinall for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
Jones, who turned 37 in July, had previously hinted at a fight with Miocic on social media, writing at the time, “16 weeks until I face the most decorated heavyweight fighter in UFC history. With training camp about to begin in earnest I feel like I’m in a great position.”
Against an underdog like Blaydes, Aspinall earned his 12th career knockout victory and has only advanced past the second round once in his nine UFC bouts.
“I’m the best finisher in the UFC,” Aspinall said.
Also on the main card, Liverpudlian and fan-favorite Paddy Pimblett submitted Bobby Green in the first round to record his eighth straight win (sixth in UFC).
Pimblett choked Green out at 3 minutes 22 seconds into the first round, signaling to the promotion that he would be in the main event bout and signaling to the lightweights that they were going to have a shot at the championship.
“The statement has been made,” Pimblett said. “To all the haters who said I’d never be ranked, what now? Are they going to move the goalposts again?”
