It is not uncommon but pretty rare to see two fighters who will clash complimenting each other! However, ahead of Tom Aspinall and Curtis Blaydes’ fight, in UFC 304, ‘Honey Badger’ did say something unique. The two previously fought against each other at the UFC Fight Night in 2022, but it ended with the UFC interim heavyweight champion getting injured in just 15 seconds of the first round and Blaydes scoring a win via KO/TKO. However, Aspinall holds no grudges, as he recently spoke highly of his next opponent, even comparing him with the likes of Jon Jones and Alex Pereira. 

Michael Bisping chatted with the UFC interim heavyweight champion, ahead of his title defense. When the former UFC middleweight champion asked Aspinall about his opponent, ‘Honey Badger’ only had good things to say. He said while speaking on Bisping’s YouTube channel, “I am not the guy to take my eyes off my opponent. Because Curtis Blaydes is a serious guy very serious. He might not have the hype of a guy like Alex Pereira, you might not have the hype of Jon Jones. This guy’s as good as them guys and I have to treat him as such.”

Blaydes, who is also known as ‘Razor’ inside the octagon, has a record of 18-4-0 with one no-contest. He stands 6’4” tall at 265 lbs and has already won against Aspinall once at UFC Fight Night. He has even defeated opponents like Alexander Volkov and Jailton Almeida. During the previous fight with Blaydes, the interim heavyweight champ tore his medial collateral ligament and meniscus, and had to go through rehab. No wonder he thought of retirement during his hiatus.

Aspinall spoke about his first bout with Blaydes and the pain he suffered as he mentioned, “It was tough. I just decided, you know. I still remember the moment when I was sat, I was sat there. And to be honest, before, before I fought Blaydes the first time, I wasn’t all in on MMA. I wasn’t as focused as I should have been, I wasn’t training properly.” 

This time, however, he is focused and training more, as he knows what he is up against. It has not been an easy

Curtis Blaydes opened up about his condition

When he first stepped into the octagon, he was reprimanded by the fans even after winning his second fight against Cody East. He gave his first-ever interview, and he supposedly stuttered. However, his excitement was short-lived because fans accused him of having Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Razor was not happy about this and cleared the misconceptions that the toxic fans were spreading.

He revealed that he suffered from a speech impediment. Speaking to MMA Mania a few years back, the fighter revealed, “I have a speech impediment, if you’re not intelligent enough to understand that I didn’t get it from a brain injury, then I don’t know what to say.” However, he is at peace with what happened after speaking about it.

“I just don’t have time for toxic fans to belittle me anymore I used to really enjoy social media, but then all I got was nothing but hate. I just post what I want to and then don’t look at the comments but even then what these people are saying is just meaningless,” claimed Blaydes.

Meanwhile, he also recently complained about the timings of the bout with Aspinall. The fight in Manchester is going to happen at 4. a.m. which does not feel like the time for a “real fight” as per Blaydes. Though the fighter seemed upset, he is all set to make a mark at the event. “You wouldn’t have McGregor fight at 4 a.m. regardless of where it is in the world. That makes it feel a little less, but I don’t care. I’m getting the title fight purse money. That’s all that matters. If I’m tired five minutes before they call my name, I guess that’s on me. If you can’t get up for a title fight, you don’t deserve it. That’s my preparation,” claimed the heavyweight during UFC Denver’s media scrum.

What is your take on the fight and who do you think is going to win? Let us know your prediction in the comments below.