Aspinall rolls with it for victory and issues ultimatum

WHEN Tom Aspinall finally got his hands on the microphone, his message couldn't have been any clearer.

- KEIFER MACDONALD

That was to be expected. After all, the interim heavyweight champion had most likely spent the last eight months devising a detailed plan on how best to deliver his ultimatum to perhaps the greatest fighter in UFC history, Jon Jones.

"I have nothing against you personally [Jon] but I just think I'm better than you. I just know I can beat you in a fight. So I'm coming for it," roared the Brit at roughly 5:15am yesterday at Manchester's Co-op Live Arena after a brutal TKO victory over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304.

This triumph over Blaydes had been over two years in the making, dating back to when the pair's first contest was cut short less than 30 seconds into the first round when Aspinall tore his medial collateral ligament at London's O2 Arena in July 2022.

But since returning to the octagon last summer, Aspinall, Greater Manchester born and bred, had set his sights on running it back with the American and avenging the only defeat of a phenomenal UFC career to date.