UFC heavyweights Curtis Blaydes, Tom Aspinall seemed to bond over their shared disappointment when Aspinall’s knee blew out in the Octagon at UFC London. Blaydes appeared on The MMA Hour to discuss how he planned to knock Aspinall out, and how they wound up enjoying a cold one after the fight.
“Random. I was in my room, obviously we’re in the same hotel. My dad, I guess he was in the lobby downstairs at one of the bars in the lobby area. He was down there, and he bumped into Aspinall’s dad, and my dad is a talker. He’ll make friends with anybody. He’ll be your best friend if you guys have a drink.
Curtis Blaydes and Tom Aspinall Enjoyed A Post-Fight Beer
So I guess he got to talking, and then my dad walked into my room and was like, ‘Hey, let’s go up to Aspinall’s room. He wants to have a drink with you.’ So I was like, ‘OK, I’m down.’ So then we go up there, and they’re really nice. The whole Aspinall [crew], his whole squad, his dad, his uncle, everyone, even the women. Everyone was super nice, super cool.
We were up there for like an hour. A good, solid hour. They were nice guys, and the atmosphere was very friendly, very inviting.”
The heavyweight clash headlined the main card at UFC London, but the first was cut short just fifteen seconds into the first round when Aspinal went down clutching his knee. Curtis Blaydes couldn’t say enough nice things about Aspinall both as a fighter and as a man.
“He handled it very well – he was upbeat. He was fine. He knows he’ll be back. He knows he’s young. He’s already better than Derrick Lewis. I think he’s better than Tuivasa. I think he’s better than Gane. I think he’s more well-rounded.
He obviously has the wrestling, he has jiu-jitsu, he’s very athletic on the feet. I believe that he believes he’s going to bounce back, and I believe it also. I don’t think this is the end of Aspinall. I wish I hadn’t gone up there, because now I like him!
I like the guy. You don’t want to fight someone you like, and I know we’re going to scrap again. I know, because he’s only 29, he’ll be back. I know he’s going to be out for eight, nine months, even a year, but he’ll be here, so I know we’re going to scrap again, and it’s hard to scrap a guy you like.
I didn’t know anything about him [before]. I was in the middle. I was indifferent. I didn’t like him or not like him, but now he’s a nice guy. I know he’s got kids, he’s a dad, he’s a good dude. So it was nice to meet him. Nice having a beer.”
Do you want to see this fight rescheduled when Aspinall is back to full health? Let us know in the comments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUfUY4U-w2M
