UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has revealed his philosophy on preparing for his upcoming rematch with Curtis Blaydes, which takes place on 27 July at UFC 304 in Manchester.
Bloody Elbow quotes Aspinall as saying:
Let's not overcomplicate it, there's two of us in there, we can spend all day thinking about what's going to happen or not going to happen. There's pressures that come with it, I'm not hiding away from that especially with a fight like this. It's in Manchester, rematch, defending a title and stuff like that. Your emotions can run wild with you under pressure, they can. Especially when you start getting tired, like at this point in camp I've done a lot of training, a lot of volume and a lot of rounds, my body is beat up and I'm mentally tired.
The first fight between Blaydes and Aspinall took place in July 2022 at UFC Fight Night 208. In that fight, Curtis won by technical knockout after Tom was unable to continue the fight due to a knee injury.
Aspinall has 14 wins and three losses in mixed martial arts. Blaydes has 18 wins and four losses on his record, with another of his fights ruled a no-contest.