Tag: UFC 295

Curtis Blaydes expected Tom Aspinall to beat Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 – but not like that

Curtis Blaydes thinks Sergei Pavlovich gave Tom Aspinall too much space to work at UFC 295.

[autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Sergei Pavlovich[/autotag] gave [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] too much space to work.

Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) knocked out Pavlovich (18-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in 69 seconds to claim the interim heavyweight title at UFC 295.

Aspinall’s lone octagon loss came to Blaydes by TKO in July 2022, when his knee blew out just 15 seconds into the fight. Having fought both Aspinall and Pavlovich before, Blaydes (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) picked Aspinall to win, but was surprised at the quick blitz through knockout artist Pavlovich.

“Going in, I did have Aspinall winning, but I didn’t think it would happen in the fashion that it did happen,” Blaydes told Middle Easy. “I thought he would out-technique him and just be a smarter fighter. I expected Sergei to be a lot more aggressive. That was one of the biggest things. He allowed Aspinall to get bouncing, get moving, and gave him space.

“That’s one of the differences between fighting at the Apex and using a standard octagon – a lot more space, a lot harder to be aggressive when there are angles you can take. I think that was the beginning of the end when he allowed Aspinall the freedom of movement.”

Many are touting Aspinall to potentially be the one to beat UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, and Blaydes doesn’t rule out that possibility. He thinks anyone can win a fight at heavyweight.

“It’s heavyweight,” Blaydes said. “Anybody can beat anybody. Sergei can beat Jon. I can beat Jon. It’s whoever gets hit in the face first. That’s really all it is. Regardless of the skill, and technique, and experience, and all that, heavyweight there is one equalizer; power. Power beats skill. Power beats speed. Power at heavyweight is everything and every heavyweight has power. It’s a prerequisite.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.

UFC 295 medical suspensions: Jiri Prochazka, Sergei Pavlovich among 19 suspended indefinitely

Nineteen indefinite suspensions were handed out after UFC 295, per the New York State Athletic Commission.

UFC 295 took place Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York and featured 13 fights.

On Monday, MMA Junkie acquired a list of athlete medical suspensions from the New York State Athletic Commission, the sanctioning body that oversaw the event. Most injury specifics were not disclosed.

Nineteen of the 26 combatants were given indefinite suspensions and will need to be cleared by a doctor before they return. That’s a high number of indefinite suspensions compared to the average UFC event, although the NYSAC may have different safety protocols compared to other regulatory bodies. All 26 fighters were also given mandatory suspensions, which vary from seven days to 90 days.

Check out the full list of medical suspensions from UFC 295 below.

Henry Cejudo takes exception to Daniel Cormier comparing his Olympic gold medal to Tom Aspinall’s interim title

Henry Cejudo stands by his criticism towards Tom Aspinall’s interim title celebration.

[autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] stands by his criticism towards Tom Aspinall’s interim title celebration.

Cejudo mocked Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) for breaking down in tears after finishing Sergei Pavlovich to claim the interim heavyweight belt at UFC 295. Cejudo argued that the interim title doesn’t hold weight like an undisputed title, and that it was an overreaction.

[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] came to Aspinall’s defense. He said like Cejudo, Aspinall worked his entire life for one goal and should be emotional after achieving such a feat on short notice.

“Henry Cejudo, man, I like the guy,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “I do. But this dude has never been more wrong. Henry said, ‘Tom Aspinall shouldn’t have been as emotional to become the champion. It’s not the real belt.’ It’s not fair. Henry Cejudo became the UFC champion because he’s a tremendous athlete and he is just a winner. He’s just a winner. But Henry Cejudo was not groomed to be UFC champion.

“Henry Cejudo was groomed to be the Olympic wrestling champion, and he did that. And when he did that, he cried. and he was excited and he was the champ and it felt like he had accomplished the world. That’s what Tom Aspinall did. Why? because it’s all he’s been training to do… Interim or not, they’re wrapping 12 pounds of gold around his belt. So, he got emotional. That feels as real to him as that Olympic gold medal put around Henry’s Cejudo’s neck back in Beijing.”

Cejudo clapped back at Cormier for comparing his Olympic gold medal win to Aspinall’s interim title, saying you can’t put the two accolades in the same sentence.

“So DC man, you’re tearing on your Olympic teammate,” Cejudo said on Twitter. “You turned against the greatest combat athlete of all time. But you know what, DC? I love it. If I was to win an Olympic silver medal, do you think you would see me running around? Do you think you would see my crying? You think that I would have wanted to pick up that American flag and represent all of us?

“An interim belt just means you’re the No. 1 contender, and for all you soft people that don’t like that – including Tom Aspinall because yeah, I will say this, it was too much. Save those tears. Save those tears for if you can beat a guy like Jon Jones. If you can truly beat the greatest of all time and say you are a world champion. First of all, congratulations to Tom. But, at the same time you’re the No. 1 contender. Interim belts mean nothing. They mean nothing.”

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Michael Bisping lauds Tom Aspinall’s striking advantage over Jon Jones: ‘Tom takes his head off’

Michael Bisping doesn’t think Jon Jones can stand with Tom Aspinall in a potential UFC title unifier.

[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] doesn’t think [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] can stand with [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag].

Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) knocked out Sergei Pavlovich in just 69 seconds to capture the interim heavyweight title in this past Saturday’s UFC 295 co-main event. Aspinall currently averages the shortest fight time in UFC history at 2:10.

But Aspinall will have to wait before getting the opportunity to unify the heavyweight title. Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) vs. Stipe Miocic is expected to be rebooked, with Aspinall facing the winner. If Jones wins, Bisping hopes Jones sticks around for the title unifier, or it will be a bad look, in his opinion.

“The perfect plan for Jon Jones would be go to heavyweight, become the champion, beat Stipe who’s the greatest heavyweight, and then beat the No. 1 contender, or now as we have an interim champion,” Bisping said in a recent episode of his “Believe You Me” podcast. “I think if Jones doesn’t fight Tom Aspinall and he retires, we know what everyone’s going to say. I don’t even need to say it. So, Jones, I think his back’s up against the wall, if he beats Stipe, of course.”

Jones is widely considered one of the greatest fighters of all time, but Bisping stands by his fellow Brit. Aspinall has 11 knockouts on his resume – all in the first round – and Bisping sees Jones suffering a similar fate if the fight plays out on the feet.

“It’s never going to happen, I’m sorry,” Bisping said on Jones beating Aspinall. “I love Jon Jones, I think he’s incredible. If you look at it on paper, Jones has never been a knockout artist with his hands. He takes people down, he wears them down, he has master game plans.

“The fight IQ is through the roof. Taking Tom down? I don’t know. He’s a great wrestler, he probably could. He took (Daniel Cormier) down a couple of times. I think Tom could get back to the feet, but on the feet, I think Tom takes his head off.”

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Tom Aspinall on Henry Cejudo’s criticism of UFC interim title celebration: ‘Doesn’t matter to me’

Tom Aspinall fires back at Henry Cejudo over criticism of celebration at UFC 295.

[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] fired back at [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] over the recent comments made about Aspinall’s celebration at UFC 295.

Aspinall won the UFC interim title this past Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 295, knocking out Sergei Pavlovich. Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC), who had taken the fight on short notice, was very emotional and collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by emotions from his KO win.

Well, Cejudo, who’s a former two-division UFC champion, had a few things to say about Aspinall’s reaction.

“Watching Tom Aspinall win the interim world title, he’s already celebrating, it’s an interim, Tom,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “Save those tears for when you actually win the real belt. Sometimes, when I see people like that, they just get too emotional after an interim belt. Yeah, you got a trophy, but they might as well dip that thing in either silver or bronze because it’s not the real thing. I mean that with all due respect.

“Sometimes I wonder, as a competitor, I start to think about their mentalities. How is it or what is it that makes them, has he thought that he’s reached the pinnacle of the world? I’m not picking on you, Tom. I’m just saying to you, save those tears for when you actually own the undisputed title.”

Speaking with Michael Bisping, Aspinall responded to Cejudo’s comments. The Englishman was unbothered by what Cejudo had to say, but did take a few jabs in the process.

“It doesn’t matter to me what he says, he’s about 5’3,” Aspinall said. “If he’s talking, I probably won’t hear him because of how far away he is from me. So yeah, it doesn’t matter. He’s trying to get headlines, isn’t he? He’s trying to get headlined, obviously.”

Aspinall, who doesn’t have a relationship with Cejudo, went on to explain what kind of criticism does bother him.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Aspinall said. “What bothers me is when someone I know has an issue, and they got my number, but they want to go online to beef it up. If you got an issue and got some questions, give me a ring. You know what I mean. I mean in general. That’s when it annoys me, when it’s people that I know. When it’s strangers, I couldn’t care less. I couldn’t care less.”

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Tom Aspinall calls for Jon Jones to be stripped of UFC heavyweight title: ‘I should be the real champion’

Tom Aspinall wants UFC to strip Jon Jones from his title as he recovers from injury.

[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] is not happy with the way the UFC heavyweight division is being managed.

Aspinall strongly thinks [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] should’ve been stripped of his UFC heavyweight title, as he recovers from a pectoral tear, and his 69-second knockout of Sergei Pavlovich this past Saturday at UFC 295 in New York should’ve been for the vacant belt.

Instead, Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) fought for and won the interim belt by knocking out Pavlovich. Instead of a unification bout next, the UFC is planning on Jones having defend his belt against Stipe Miocic in 2024.

Aspinall doesn’t think this is how things should play out, and is calling for the promotion to strip Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) from the belt.

“I think Jon Jones should be stripped from the title to be honest, because everyone else does when they get injured like that,” Aspinall told Michael Bisping. “I don’t see why he’s still got it. I don’t understand that. I think I should be the real champion right now.

“It’s hard to say without sounding rude, but who’s asked about Jon Jones and Stipe anymore? Why do we get this legacy fight, and they get to live by their own rules? What’s a legacy fight, a retirement fight for a title? I want to fight Stipe and then I want to fight Jon Jones. … I think all this other stuff is rubbish. Stop protecting him now. Stop protecting your boy Jon Jones at the top. If he’s injured, get out of the way and I’ll fight Stipe.”

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Jones vs. Miocic was supposed to go down in the main event of UFC 295. However, due to Jones’ injury, the fight was cancelled with hopes of rebooking it in a later date. That’s when the promotion booked a last-minute bout between Aspinall and Pavlovich for the interim belt.

Miocic claims the UFC never gave him the option to fight for the interim title.

Aspinall thinks the right solution to this situation is for him to defend his belt against Miocic, and if successful, then welcome Jones back to competition. The Brit thinks there’s no interest from the fan base in a Jones vs. Miocic fight.

“That fight is completely dead in the water now,” Aspinall said. “You have a new champion at the weight, which is me. You got Stipe, who by the time Jon Jones comes back will have fought once in four years, and he’s 42 years old, and he’s got one fight where he got knocked out, and now he’s going to fight Jones, who’s coming off a big injury and again had one fight in three years.

“Again, who’s going to be bothered by that fight in a years time? Let’s move on. I’m the champion now. I’ll fight Stipe, he’s available. Me and Stipe will fight, and then when I beat Stipe, I’ll fight Jon Jones.”

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Henry Cejudo questions Tom Aspinall’s ’emotional’ reaction to interim title win: ‘It’s not the real thing’

Henry Cejudo thinks Tom Aspinall overreacted after capturing the interim heavyweight title at UFC 295.

[autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] overreacted after capturing the interim heavyweight title at UFC 295.

Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) needed just 69 seconds to knock out Sergei Pavlovich on short notice in this past Saturday’s co-main event at Madison Square Garden in New York. Aspinall broke down in tears after the stoppage in what was a very emotional moment.

But former two-division UFC champion Cejudo, who never thought Aspinall vs. Pavlovich was worth an interim belt, critiqued Aspinall for his reaction.

“Watching Tom Aspinall win the interim world title, he’s already celebrating,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “It’s an interim, Tom! Save those tears for when you actually win the real belt. Sometimes, when I see people like that, they just get too emotional after an interim belt. Yeah, you got a trophy, but they might as well dip that thing in either silver or bronze because it’s not the real thing.

“I mean that with all due respect. As a competitor, I start to think of their mentalities. How is it or what is it that makes them – has he thought that he’s reached the pinnacle of the world? I’m not picking on you, Tom. I’m just saying to you, save those tears for when you actually own the undisputed title.”

Aspinall called for UFC undisputed heavyweight champion Jon Jones next, but Jones is expected to have his title fight with Stipe Miocic rebooked once he’s healthy. Cejudo agrees with Aspinall, and also wants to see the title-unification bout next.

“This fight is a lot more intriguing than a guy like Stipe Miocic,” Cejudo said. “I can understand why Jon would want to fight a guy like Stipe, someone who’s older in his age, and also someone who’s more accomplished.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.

Diego Lopes surprised he didn’t enter rankings after KO win at UFC 295: ‘I’ve shown enough to deserve a spot’

Diego Lopes is disappointed he didn’t make the promotion’s official rankings with his KO win at UFC 295.

[autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] impressed many in his return to the octagon, but not enough to enter the UFC’s official featherweight rankings.

Lopes (23-6 MMA, 2-1 UFC) knocked out fellow prospect Pat Sabatini in just 90 seconds this past Saturday on the main card of UFC 295 in New York City. He’s now on a two-fight winning streak, with both being first-round finishes. Prior to that, he had a close loss to unbeaten title contender Movsar Evloev in his short-notice UFC debut.

The Brazilian fighter told MMA Junkie prior to the contest that he was hoping to get ranked with an impressive win. Well, the first-round KO win was impressive enough to get him a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus, but not a spot on the promotion’s featherweight rankings – which is managed by a panel of media members.

“Imagine this, your first fight is against a No. 10 in the world, and you give him the fight of his life,” Lopes told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “Your second fight, you fight (and submit) someone who was coming off a fight against No. 9 in the rankings. Then your next fight against Sabatini, you knock out someone who’s got a winning record in the UFC of 5-1.

“I’m not going to lie to you, I thought I could get a spot in the rankings. I think many people saw it that way too, but it didn’t happen. What can I do? That doesn’t depend on me making the rankings. What I need to do now is make it very clear I need a spot in the rankings. I need an opportunity. And even if that doesn’t come, I’ll keep working. That’s all I can do. I’m very motivated, and I’m very happy with everything that’s happening in my career. I will continue to win every fight the UFC puts in front of me until I get myself in the rankings. If you ask me, I think I’ve shown enough to deserve a spot in there. I’ve shown enough, but if they don’t see it that way, then I have to keep showing them. My next fight, I would love for it to be against a ranked fighter.”

Although Lopes was hoping to get ranked, he is by no means losing his motivation. The Lobo Gym and Brazilian Warriors product does hope that for his next fight he either gets Bryce Mitchell or someone else in the UFC’s official rankings.

“Honestly, anyone that’s ranked,” Lopes said. “I think there are plenty of good names. There’s Alex Caceres, Sodiq Yusuff, Dan Ige, Edson Barboza. I want those guys who are from 10 to 15. There are plenty of names, but if I could pick, I want Bryce Mitchell, but if not him, someone that’s in the rankings.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.

Jamahal Hill hopes to fight ‘stud’ UFC interim champ Tom Aspinall someday

Jamahal Hill is eyeing a future showdown with new UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.

[autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag] is eyeing a future showdown with new UFC interim heavyweight champion [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag].

Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) needed just 69 seconds to knock out Sergei Pavlovich this past Saturday at UFC 295 to claim the interim heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden.

Hill (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC), who’s on a quest to regain his light heavyweight title, sees himself moving up to heavyweight in the future and would love the possibility of fighting Aspinall.

“I think Tom is a stud. I think Tom is like the new prototype of what heavyweights are,” Hill told TNT Sports after UFC 295. “I definitely want to do my thing at 205 and go up and eventually see him too. So, Tom, get ready for me, baby – someday. I think he has great movement. I think his coaches focus on a lot of good things, the right things to give him an edge in this game.

“A lot of them have the same philosophy as my coaches have and employ with me and things like that. I think he’s definitely built the right way, the way fighters should be built. It’s exciting. I’m game. I’m always game. Any time I see somebody exciting or new, or they’re bringing something fresh to the cage, I want to test myself against that.”

Hill relinquished his 205-pound title after rupturing his achilles tendon. He watched Alex Pereira knock out Jiri Prochazka to claim the vacant belt, and he expects to fight him next once he heals from his injury.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Nov. 14: Alex Pereira on top of light heavyweight

Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings following UFC 295 in New York.

The UFC’s latest pay-per-view event was the source of a number of changes in this week’s rankings.

The UFC’s light heavyweight has a new champion and his name is [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]. The former middleweight champ claimed a title in his second weight class by finishing Jiri Prochazka in the main event of UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

In the co-main, [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] viciously knocked out Sergei Pavlovich to take the interim heavyweight title. Time will tell when Aspinall will have an opportunity to unify the title as the promotion has currently decided to wait for champion Jon Jones to return from injury to face former champ Stipe Miocic.

Both winners made big moves in this week’s update, but the biggest is Pereira taking the throne at light heavyweight with the No. 1 spot.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.