The UK fans yet again proved why Dana White and UFC liked to hold events there. The wild fans put out incredible energy at UFC 304 throughout the fight card despite 9/14 fights ending via decision. The fans showed immense support for homegrown champions Leon Edwards and Tom Aspinall. However, something caught top heavyweight Curtis ‘Razor’ Blaydes off-guard.
After winning the welterweight title, Leon Edwards became a household name among the UK MMA fans. As a result, his words ‘headshot dead’ have since gone viral in the UK. This had many fans chanting the phrase throughout the fight week at UFC 304. This didn’t sit well with Curtis Blaydes, who thought the fans were talking about real guns and shooting. He discussed it with UFC lightweight Paddy Pimblett, who hilariously shared the story.
Should have seen what Curtis said to me, ‘Guns are illegal here, aren’t they? Why are they all screaming headshot dead, headshot dead.’
Paddy Pimblett via his YouTube channel
Unfortunately, the welterweight champion failed to keep his word to knock out challenger Belal Muhammad in the main event. Edwards disappointed his home crowd and had a disastrous night as he got outclassed by Muhammad in all the departments. Conversely, Muhammad kept his promise and silenced the ‘headshot dead’ chants by winning a five-round decision.
However, Blaydes got a taste of ‘headshot dead’ after getting dropped by Aspinall and was finished by some nasty blows. Aspinall was clinical with his finish and successfully took revenge for his unfortunate loss against Curtis two years ago. For Razor, it was a great opportunity, but he lost it by being careless.
Curtis Blaydes opens up about his loss at UFC 304
Curtis Blaydes had a one-fight cushion going into the heavyweight interim championship fight against Tom Aspinall. In his last bout, he defeated Jailton Almeida and was oozing with confidence during the fight week. The heavyweight fighter also made a strong statement about his speech impediment issues.
Curtis Blaydes accepts his mistake at UFC 304 (via X)However, as the fight started, it took Aspinall only one minute to land a nasty combo, which was enough to put the Blaydes on his back. The referee was forced to stop the fight Immediately as Aspinall followed up. Although the challenger was not happy with the stoppage initially, he finally realized it and made a public statement.
Sorry guys, I got greedy when I touched him early and threw out the amazing gameplan that my coaches Vinnie Lopez [and] Cody Donovan came up with that would’ve worked I’m sure of it. No excuses Tom was on point tonight I know this isn’t the end of my journey but damnit, I know I’m better than tonight’s performance. I appreciate all the support truly it’s been an eye opening experience to have so many ppl rocking with me
Curtis Blaydes via Instagram
On the other hand, after beating Blaydes, Aspinall immediately used the opportunity to call out the heavyweight king, Jon Jones. Aspinall doubled it down with other interviews where he essentially asked Jones to hand him the title. It was a massive statement by the interim champion, who is eager to become the true champion by beating Jones.
!
