Prediction for the fight Curtis Blaydes vs Tom Aspinall

British heavyweight, Tom Aspinall, in just 2 years has gone from being a newcomer to the UFC organization to a confident top who always finishes his fights ahead of schedule. Now he has a unique chance to break into the TOP-5 of his weight class, and do it in front of the home audience at the legendary O2 Arena in London. For this, he got the perfect opponent - Curtis Blaydes, an athlete of world renown.

Guys rarely bring their fights to the referee's decisions, so we are in for an uncompromising and tough fight, where everything will be decided by one blow or a skillfully turned submission. Their bout will headline UFC Fight Night 208, which will take place on the night of July 23-24. Will the elite five be replenished with a new name, or will the veteran manage to defend his position? We will answer this question in our detailed prediction.

• Curtis Blaydes vs Tom Aspinall;
• Curtis Blaydes;
• Tom Aspinall;
• Comparative analysis;
• Game Totals Prediction.

Curtis Blaydes vs Tom Aspinall

Curtis Blaydes

For 8 years in professional sports, Tom has managed to combine such styles as BJJ, boxing and Muay Thai in his technique. For some time he was Tyson Fury's regular sparring partner, thanks to which he brought his handwork skills to a very high level. The black belt in jiu-jitsu, and even the experience of performing in the ring, opened up great prospects for him in MMA.

Starting with a passing opposition in his homeland, pretty soon Aspinall got out abroad, where he began to smash seasoned veterans and current UFC tops, thanks to which he quickly rose in the ratings. Remarkably, not a single fight with his participation went beyond the 4th minute of the second round, and this is regardless of what level of guys he dealt with.

Strengths

Tom is a big guy, but this does not in the least prevent him from demonstrating excellent performance in terms of speed and explosive power. So far, no one has been able to stop this “storm”, as the Briton bursts into the duel from the first moments, without wasting time on reconnaissance.

On the ground floor of BJJ, Aspinall, along with pumped wrestling and grappling, make both strikers and wrestlers nervous. An optimal sense of timing for translation, as well as an excellent understanding of working from different positions, opens the way for Tom not only to techniques, but also to control positions, followed by the use of ground and pound.

As mentioned above, boxing is another weapon that the Englishman has taken to another level. For a heavyweight, he does an insane amount of work, misses a minimal amount of punches and has impressive punches that send everyone to sleep.

All of the above pluses would not have been valid without well-designed protection and accuracy. In the UFC, no one has yet been able to bring Tom to the ground, and in the stance, he misses three times fewer punches than he does himself. This combination allows him to get away with the most dangerous opponents.

Weaknesses

Sometimes, to fully appreciate a fighter, you need to see him in combat for 3 or 5 full rounds, preferably in a "war" format. In the case of Aspinall, this has never happened before, and who knows what will happen to him when he has to go to the championship rounds. The question of cardio remains open.

The current form and readiness of the fighter

Tom is 29 years old, his current winning streak consists of 8 fights, which is already an excellent result for a heavyweight. There are no questions about the level of his opponents, since he managed to finish Alexander Volkov in March of this year, Sergey Spivak, Andrey Orlovsky and Alan Budo with Jake Collier. Aspinall has been delivering amazing performances, improving with astonishing momentum and so far no one has been able to find a serious flaw in his game. So, in the upcoming fight, you should expect an amazing form and new preparations from the audience from him.

Tom Aspinall

Located on the 4th line of the heavyweight rating, Curtis devoted many years of his life to wrestling. Behind him is the status of the champion of the state of Illinois, the champion of the NJCAA in freestyle wrestling, as well as the winner of a number of student competitions. Later, "Razor" began to get involved in boxing, thanks to which, having switched to MMA, he could finish opponents not only on the ground, but also in the stand.

Blaydes has high-profile victories over such MMA stars as Alistair Overeem, Mark Hunt, Alexey Oleinik and others. He fought twice with the current champion - Francis Ngannou, but failed to defeat the formidable knockout. Curtis was close to a title shot, but his tenacity and directness didn't always play into his hands.

Strengths

Many people remember Blades for his ground and pound technique. Nearly half of the total number of punches he throws come in the form of hammerfists and elbows to a prone opponent, and their bloodied faces testify to the effectiveness of this style. He is good at holding dominant positions, and prefers to break opponents with endless strikes instead of tricks.

In the last couple of years, Curtis has become more and more willing to linger in the stance if he sees that his opponent does not pose a significant danger there. Razor strikes do not paint speed and accuracy, however, if it hits, then the battle will be over. Exchanging hands with him is a bad idea.

This is one of those cases when a heavyweight has to drive weight to keep within 120 kg. He is not the tallest and most huge in the division, but he knows how to use his mass perfectly to neutralize the enemy on the ground floor - he does not take experience in balance and position control.

Weaknesses

For Blades, the concepts of footwork and active defense are alien. He can use his body to try to confuse the opponent, but otherwise remains an accessible target. The same applies to takedowns, since going to the legs from a distance, without any preliminary preparation, at this level is at least stupid.

So far, Curtis has failed to be at the top just because his style has already been learned. He does not have a good fighting mind, tries to take fights with brute force, and always remains too straightforward, which sometimes makes it difficult for him to cope even with clean strikers.

The current form and readiness of the fighter

Blades is 31 years old, the last time we saw him in action was 3 months ago when he knocked out Chris Docas. Before that, Jairzinho Rozenstruik became the victim of the American, and only Derrick Lewis managed to stop Razor after convincing victories over Alexander Volkov and Junior dos Santos. Curtis always shows good form, there are no questions about his physical condition, but the stubbornness and blunders that he makes in fights often make one doubt whether this guy is able to soberly assess the situation in battle.

Comparative analysis

Let's start with the fact that a native of the United States has a noticeable advantage in size and anthropometry. Despite the fact that he is 3 cm lower, he has an advantage of 5 cm in arm span, and a good 5-7 kg in weight, at least. In the context of this confrontation, it becomes obvious that Tom will equalize this imbalance due to his speed and movements, so Blades is unlikely to be able to annoy him using his size. In fact, we will be watching the opposition of the European BJJ, against the American freestyle wrestling, and in these crafts the guys manifest themselves in completely different ways.

As mentioned earlier, Curtis does not use submissions, but breaks opponents by getting into a full mount and taking them out from there. Aspinall, on the other hand, fights differently, constantly looking for positions to enter tricks and striking at the same time. However, in a pure fight, I will give preference to Razor, since he is very good at laying down, although the speed qualities of his counterpart can cross out everything again, and it’s quite possible to get behind the unhurried Blades, it’s just that no one has tried to do this before.

In the standing position, we observe absolute superiority on the part of the British. He hits twice as many accurate blows, puts up defense better, and most importantly, he is not inferior in power to his opponent at all. He will definitely succeed in beating the American in his arms, but Curtis has a unique opportunity to become the first in the organization to score a takedown in a fight with Tom. Although, there is a very high probability that Blades will fly into a knockout even before he grabs the opponent’s legs, or Aspinall himself will initiate the transfer.

Curtis Blaydes vs Tom Aspinall Fight Prediction

Looking at the fighting pair of Blades - Aspinall, one cannot name any significant global flaws in Tom that will play into the hands of Curtis. In fact, we only heard about the Brit after a shocking victory against Alexander Volkov, before which he sat in the shadows. He is good in the stand and clinch, on the ground, uses even more arsenal than the Illinois fighter, plus he has youth, creative approach in fights and, most importantly, rapid progress. He is strong, fast and adaptive, so betting on him should justify itself in full. With great probability, this meeting will not even reach the equator of the fight, and finishing before the end of the 2nd round is more than possible. Install the 1xbet app and place a bet on the favorite!

Prediction: Tom Aspinall / Total under 2.5 to win