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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
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Tom Aspinall: Curtis Blaydes rematch at UFC 304 is a ‘lose-lose’ because he’s ‘not that popular’

Tom Aspinall admits he’s risking a whole lot by rematching Curtis Blaydes in the UFC 304 co-main event.

Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) will attempt to defend his interim heavyweight title when he runs it back with Blaydes (18-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) on July 27 at Co-op Live in Manchester, England (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+). His dream scenario was a unification bout with Jon Jones, but after acknowledging that’s likely not going to materialize with “Bones” determined to face Stipe Miocic next, he agreed to move on.

The offer that came through was a rematch with Blaydes, who Aspinall suffered his lone UFC loss against when he suffered a knee injury just 15 seconds into their UFC Fight Night 208 headliner in July 2022. Aspinall likes the idea of getting back the result on his record against Blaydes, but outside of that, he said the upside is minimal.

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