Curtis Blaydes sees Tom Aspinall being the first to take out UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
UFC CEO Dana White guaranteed that the title-unification bout between interim champ Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) and heavyweight champ Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) will happen in 2025.
Aspinall has torn through the heavyweight ranks en route to claiming the interim title and successfully defended it when he needed just one minute to stop Blaydes by knockout at UFC 304.
Blaydes (18-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) thinks Aspinall can do the same to Jones.
“I would pick him (Aspinall),” Blaydes said in an interview with Sportskeeda. “Like, I would go 55 percent him. Obviously, it’s not going to be a landslide. Like, we’re going against Jon Jones. He’s a legend. He’s got all the weapons. I think one area where Tom can win is just a presence inside. Like, Jon Jones gets away with being able to stand in front of his opponent and just paw and pick at him with the inside leg kicks and the teeps and the jabs. I don’t think Aspinall is just going to allow him to hang out at that range.
“I think he’s going to be blitzing him in and out, and that’ll be the difference. I think in one of those ins and outs, he’s going to be able to catch him, because it only takes one. He definitely has the speed. He doesn’t have the range that Jon has, but who does? But I think he knows that. I think he’ll get on the inside of that range, and I think he’ll be able to land an overhand. And it’ll probably be early because he likes to blitz. He doesn’t like to wait. So yeah, I think it’ll happen early.”
Jones notched his first title defense when he stopped Stipe Miocic by Round 3 TKO at UFC 309. He said he’d need “f*ck you” money to consider facing Aspinall, and it appears the UFC is actively working on making the fight happen.
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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Curtis Blaydes can envision Tom Aspinall finishing UFC champ Jon Jones early
