Curtis Blaydes has issued a statement following his 60-second loss to Tom Aspinall in last night’s UFC 304 co-main event.
Curtis Blaydes (18-5 MMA) challenged Aspinall (15-3 MMA) for the promotion’s interim heavyweight title in the co-headliner of Saturday night’s pay-per-view event in Manchester, England. The bout served as a rematch, as the pair previously fought back in July of 2022, where it was Curtis Blaydes emerging victorious by TKO only 15 seconds into Round 1 due to a knee injury suffered by the Brit.
‘Razor’ had entered Saturday’s bout having won four of his last five Octagon appearances, his most previous resulting in a knockout victory over Jailton Almeida at UFC 299.
As for Tom Aspinall, the Brit was returning to action for the first time since claiming the interim heavyweight title with a first-round knockout victory over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 in November of last year.
Saturday’s ‘Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes’ rematch did not make it out of the opening round. Curtis Blaydes was able to get off a few decent punches in the early seconds of the fight, but a blitz and stiff left hand from the ‘Honey Badger’ sent ‘Razor’ crashing to the canvas at the 50-second mark. From there, Aspinall proceeded to unload some nasty ground and pound which prompted the referee to step in and wave off the contest.
Official UFC 304 Result: Tom Aspinall def. Curtis Blaydes via TKO at 1:00 of Round 1
Shortly following the conclusion of Saturday’s event, Curtis Blaydes took to his Instagram Stories with the following message to his fans:
“Sorry guys, I got greedy when I touched him early and threw out the amazing gameplan that my coaches Vinnie Lopes 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 dammit, 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.”