By The Numbers: Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes

Business moves forward for top Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweights, even as Jon Jones casts a shadow over the division.

Tom Aspinall will defend his interim heavyweight crown when he rematches Curtis Blaydes in the UFC 304 co-main event on Saturday at Co-op Live in Manchester, England. The first meeting between the two men was cut short in July 2022, as Aspinall suffered a serious knee injury just 15 seconds into the first round. He enters his second encounter with Blaydes on the strength of back-to-back routs of Marcin Tybura and Sergei Pavlovich. Aspinall has never fought beyond the second round in 17 bouts as a pro. Blaydes, meanwhile, has won four of his past five fights. The Elevation Fight Team export last suited up on March 9, when he wrecked Jailton Almeida with punches in the second round of their UFC 299 pairing.

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As Aspinall and Blaydes approach their high-stakes duel, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

31: Years of age for Aspinall, who was born on April 11, 1993 in Salford, England—some 200 miles northwest of London.

3: Aspinall victories by submission, accounting for 21% of his career total (14). His methods of choice: one heel hook, one straight armbar and one rear-naked choke. Aspinall holds 11 other victories by knockout or technical knockout (79%).

37: Significant strikes landed by Aspinall before he tapped former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski with a second-round rear-naked choke at UFC Fight Night 185 in February 2021. It established a high-water mark for the Team Kaobon rep that stands to this day.

9: Seconds needed for Aspinall to dispose of Satisch Jhamai with punches under the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts banner on March 28, 2015. More than nine years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.

.681: Cumulative winning percentage between the three men—Blaydes, Lukasz Parobiec and Stuart Austin—who have defeated Aspinall. They sport a combined record of 48-22-2.

33: Years of age for Blaydes, who was born in Naperville, Illinois, on Feb. 18, 1991. Whitney Houston’s “All the Man That I Need” was the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 list at the time.

13: Blaydes wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 72% of his career total (18). His list of UFC victims: Almeida, Aspinall, Chris Daukaus, Junior dos Santos, Shamil Abdurakhimov, Alistair Overeem, Alexey Oleynik and Cody East. Blaydes owns five other wins by decision (28%).

62: Takedowns completed by Blaydes as a member of the UFC roster, placing him sixth on the promotion’s active list in the category. Only Merab Dvalishvili (79), Clay Guida (78), Colby Covington (69), Rafael dos Anjos (68) and Darren Elkins (63) have been credited with more.

11: Consecutive calendar years in which Blaydes has fought at least once. In addition to his 1-0 mark in 2024, he went 3-0 in 2014, 1-0 in 2015, 2-1 in 2016, 2-0 with one no contest in 2017, 2-1 in 2018, 2-0 in 2019, 2-0 in 2020, 1-1 in 2021, 2-0 in 2022 and 0-1 in 2023.

63: Combined victories between the three men—Pavlovich, Francis Ngannou (twice) and Derrick Lewis—who have beaten Blaydes. They own a cumulative .778 winning percentage at 63-18.