Tom Aspinall and Curtis Blaydes will meet at UFC 304 with a gold strap on the line. This interim heavyweight championship bout scheduled for five rounds is taking place Saturday, July 27 at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
It’s not the norm for a fighter to defend an interim title, but that’s the case with Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC), who claimed the belt last November by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich in a fight that came to fruition on just a couple weeks’ notice. That’s because champ Jon Jones suffered a serious injury forcing him out of his title defense with Stipe Miocic. After winning the interim belt, Aspinall lobbied hard to unify against Jones but to no avail as Jones is expected to rebook with Miocic this November.
Instead, Aspinall is getting a rematch with Blaydes (18-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC), who beat him by injury TKO in July 2022 after a freak accident in the opening moments of the fight. Blaydes, who’s won four of his past five, followed that up with a loss to Pavlovich but rebounded strong in his most recent bout by finishing Jailton Almeida this past March at UFC 299.
Here are the walkout times for the UFC 304 co-main event between Aspinall and Blaydes.
When does the UFC 304 fight card start?
- The UFC 304 lineup consists of 14 fights. Early prelims start at 6 p.m. ET, prelims at 8 p.m. ET, and the pay-per-view main card at 10 p.m. ET.
Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes walkout time
- As the co-main event, Aspinall and Blaydes are expected to walk out to the cage at approximately 11:45 p.m. ET.
- The fight will stream on ESPN+ pay-per-view.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 304.
