After failing to persuade the UFC to let him fight Jon Jones, Tom Aspinall is now considering Curtis Blaydes and Jailton Almeida for his next fight. The two will face each other at UFC 299, and whoever the winner will be might get to meet the Briton to steal his interim heavyweight belt.
Aspinall obtained the interim title after defeating Sergei Pavlovich in November 2023 at UFC 295. After this, the British fighter repeatedly made callouts to Jones to give him the chance to face him in the cage. However, the heavyweight champ is still recovering from an injury and is set to face Stipe Miocic before his rumored retirement, making him the last opponent of Jones in any case it is true. Aspinall brought his plea to the promotion, but UFC CEO Dana White is determined to push the Jones vs. Miocic, saying Aspinall will never face either of the two. Yet, the executive stressed that the company is open to a proposal from Aspinall to defend his interim title.
Winner of blaydes almeida sounds good https://t.co/Je8R6YtfRI
— Tom Aspinall (@AspinallMMA) December 31, 2023
Now, instead of reiterating his hopeless callouts, it seems the interim champ has decided to move on and pick his challenger. In a recent post, the British expressed interest in fighting either Blaydes or Almeida. The two will be participating at UFC 299 on March 9 in Miami.
Facing Almeida will be an interesting fight for Aspinall as the former still has a clean slate at the UFC, boasting a six-fight winning streak since he started in the promotion in February 2022. Blades could also be an enticing fight for fans to watch as the fighter defeated Aspinall in July 2022. In case “Razor” wins at UFC 299, Aspinall will have a rematch with the American and redeem himself.
