Tom Aspinall Reversed the Blaydes Result in Manchester
Tom Aspinall retained the interim UFC heavyweight championship by stopping Curtis Blaydes after one minute at UFC 304 on July 27, 2024. The Manchester rematch supplied a decisive conclusion after their first meeting had ended with Aspinall injured.
The first contest ended abruptly
Blaydes won their July 23, 2022, encounter by technical knockout when Aspinall suffered a knee injury after fifteen seconds. The unusual ending interrupted Aspinall’s progress and created a clear reason for a later rematch.
Aspinall returned a year later and stopped Marcin Tybura at 1:13 of the first round. He then knocked out Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 to win the interim heavyweight championship.
A quick defense at UFC 304
Against Blaydes at Co-op Live, Aspinall landed a punch that sent his challenger to the canvas. Follow-up strikes brought the referee into the exchange and ended the contest sixty seconds after it began.
The official verdict was a technical knockout from strikes. The result retained Aspinall’s interim belt and gave him a completed finishing victory over the opponent involved in the earlier injury stoppage.
The championship position at the time
Jon Jones remained the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion when the Manchester fight took place. Aspinall’s victory was therefore an interim championship defense within the division’s existing title arrangement.
That arrangement changed in June 2025, when Dana White announced Jones’s retirement and confirmed Aspinall as undisputed champion. The promotion followed the competitive run that included his emphatic Manchester rematch victory.
Sources
- UFC: Blaydes stoppage method, time and Manchester event
- UFC: first Blaydes meeting, return and Pavlovich victory
- UFC: June 2025 championship announcement
