MANCHESTER, England – Tom Aspinall made quick work of Curtis Blaydes, who was not happy with the stoppage.
Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) needed exactly one minute to snipe Blaydes (18-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) with a crisp one-two combination to retain his interim title in Saturday’s co-main event at Co-op Live in Manchester, England. Aspinall was able to avenge his July 2022 loss to Blaydes, which came by TKO due to injury just 15 seconds into the fight.
Blaydes showed no intimidation standing with Aspinall, but it cost him after he was dropped with a straight left. Blaydes was already on his way down when Aspinall followed it with a right and a barrage of ground and pound, prompting Marc Goddard to waive the fight off. Despite Blaydes’ protest, he did not appear to intelligently defend himself.
IT'S OVER IN ONE MINUTE!
TOM ASPINALL KNOCKS OUT CURTIS BLAYDES #UFC304 🏴 pic.twitter.com/p4sbx6vGOf
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) July 28, 2024
Aspinall proceeded to call out heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who is expected to defend his title against Stipe Miocic November in New York.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 304 results include:
- Tom Aspinall def. Curtis Blaydes via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:00 – for interim heavyweight title
- Paddy Pimblett def. King Green via technical submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:22
- Gregory Rodrigues def. Christian Leroy Duncan via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Arnold Allen def. Giga Chikadze via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Nathaniel Wood def. Daniel Pineda via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-28)
- Bruna Brasil def. Molly McCann via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Jake Hadley def. Caolan Loughran via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Muhammad Mokaev def. Manel Kape via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Oban Elliott def. Preston Parsons via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Modestas Bukauskas def. Marcin Prachnio via submission (arm triangle) – Round 3, 3:12
- Sam Patterson def. Kiefer Crosbie via submission (arm triangle) – Round 1, 2:50
- Mick Parkin def. Lukasz Brzeski via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:23
- Shauna Bannon def. Alice Ardelean via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
