“I’m not a nitpicker,” Tom Aspinall expects to fight on the rumored Manchester UFC PPV card; open to Curtis Blaydes rematch

Tom Aspinall wants to fight Curtis Blaydes in a rematch at UFC Fight Night Manchester.

“I’m not a nitpicker,” Tom Aspinall expects to fight on the rumored Manchester UFC PPV card; open to Curtis Blaydes rematch

Tom Aspinall open to Curtis Blaydes rematch ( Image via Imago )

Tom Aspinall is the interim heavyweight champion. However, he is not going to wait around for Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic to fight to then get a shot at the title. Instead, Aspinall revealed to Ariel Helwani that he was ready to avenge an old loss right in his hometown in Manchester.

Tom Aspinall recently sat down for an interview with the famed journalist on The MMA Hour. There he talked about a potential matchup in his hometown ahead of a prospective matchup against Jon Jones.

A lot of people are like, ‘Just wait! You shouldn’t have to defend it.’ You really think I’m going to sit in Manchester and watch a show in my hometown and not fight? Come on. Absolutely not. I have to fight somebody.
Tom Aspinall said

Aspinall addressed his injury which he termed as potentially “career-ending”. He said he did not want his career to be over and wait on the sidelines, which is why he emphasized that he was ready to take on any fighter ready to face him. The 30-year-old Aspinall said that he believes he is nowhere near his prime yet.

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Talking about a potential opponent for his fight, Aspinall said it definitely has to be Curtis Blaydes. He recalled their previous matchup in 2022 which ended just 15 seconds into the first round. He clarified that Jon Jones is still his priority fight followed by UFC legend Stipe Miocic. After that comes Curtis Blaydes, whom Aspinall clarified he has nothing against personally. He simply wants to avenge his first-round loss to Blaydes and it will be interesting to see if the UFC sets up this matchup for the two.

Tom Aspinall was offered Stipe Miocic for UFC 300

Tom Aspinall is probably the top contender ready to take a fight in the heavyweight division. During his interview with Helwani, Aspinall revealed interesting information about a possible showdown at UFC 300 that later got canceled.

Tom Aspinall upset about the UFC offering Stipe Miocic the title shot against Jon Jones
Tom Aspinall upset about the UFC offering Stipe Miocic the title shot against Jon Jones (via Instagram/IMAGO)

Tom Aspinall revealed that the UFC has offered him with a potential showdown against UFC legend Stipe Miocic. The former heavyweight champion was supposed to take on Jon Jones last year, but the fight got canceled because of Jones’ injury. However, this was not a formal offer, Aspinall revealed. He said that he agreed to take on Micoc after which he did not hear from the officials for a while.

They asked me about Stipe [Miocic], but not even officially.
Tom Aspinall revealed

They came back a few months later and told the interim champion that Stipe was only interested in fighting Jon Jones. What Aspinall found fascinating was that the UFC officials did not even offer him a replacement for a spot on the UFC 300 fight card. Aspinall had said no problem and the discussion had ended at that. Thus it looks like we will likely never see Aspinall vs. Miocic unless Miocic beats Jon Jones and decides to defend his title.

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