{"id":23959,"date":"2022-07-24T08:43:47","date_gmt":"2022-07-24T08:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ufc-london-takeaways-resetting-the-heavyweight-title-mix-after-blaydes-aspinall\/"},"modified":"2022-07-24T08:43:47","modified_gmt":"2022-07-24T08:43:47","slug":"ufc-london-takeaways-resetting-the-heavyweight-title-mix-after-blaydes-aspinall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ufc-london-takeaways-resetting-the-heavyweight-title-mix-after-blaydes-aspinall\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC London takeaways &#8212; Resetting the heavyweight title mix after Blaydes-Aspinall"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"article-meta\"><span class=\"timestamp\" data-behavior=\"date_time\" data-date=\"2022-07-23T22:35:00Z\"><span class=\"time\" data-dateformat=\"time1\" data-showtimezone=\"true\">6:35 PM ET<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"authors\">\n<li>\n<p>Brett Okamoto<\/p>\n<div class=\"author-overlay\">Close<\/p>\n<div class=\"multi-authors\"><span class=\"source\">ESPN Staff Writer<\/span><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>MMA columnist for ESPN.com\n<\/li>\n<li>Analyst for &#8220;MMA Live&#8221;\n<\/li>\n<li>Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Marc Raimondi<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>What were the biggest moments at UFC Fight Night in London?  Brett Okamoto and Marc Raimondi offer up their takeaways from an action-packed event in England.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>What does the UFC do next with Blaydes, heavyweight division?<\/h3>\n<p><b>Raimondi:<\/b> The UFC has had a pair of excellent main events for the last two weeks.  Both fights &#8212; Brian Ortega vs.  Yair Rodriguez and Curtis Blaydes vs.  Tom Aspinall &#8212; were designed to bring clarity to the top of their respective divisions, featherweight and heavyweight.  Unfortunately, neither fight could deliver that due to regrettable injuries by Ortega and Aspinall in the first rounds.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, the opening seconds, Aspinall in a knee injury during an exchange with Blaydes.  He went down after throwing a leg kick, clutching the joint and clearly in a lot of pain.  It seemed to be just an accident that wasn&#8217;t caused by anything in particular.  But Blaydes was awarded the TKO win due to the injury.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline float-r inline-track\"><img data-lazyload=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/a.espncdn.com\/photo\/2020\/0621\/r710782_1296x864_3-2.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"round lazyload\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n<p>All fights from UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs.  Aspinall will be available to watch on ESPN+.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Curtis Blaydes vs.  Tom Aspinall<br \/>\u2022 Jack Hermansson vs.  Chris Curtis<br \/>\u2022 Paddy Pimblett vs.  Jordan Leavitt<br \/>\u2022 Nikita Krylov vs.  Alexander Gustafsson<br \/>\u2022 Molly McCann vs.  Hannah Goldy<br \/>\u2022 Paul Craig vs.  Volkan Oezdemir<br \/>\u2022 Mason Jones vs.  Ludovit Klein<br \/>\u2022 Marc Diakiese vs.  Damir Hadzovic<br \/>\u2022 Nathaniel Wood vs.  Charles Rose<br \/>\u2022 Makwan Amirkhani vs.  Jonathan Pearce<br \/>\u2022 Muhammad Mokaev vs.  Charles Johnson<br \/>\u2022 Jai Herbert vs.  Kyle Nelson<br \/>\u2022 Mandy Bohm vs.  Victoria Leonardo<br \/>\u2022 Claudio Silva vs.  Nicolas Dalby<\/p>\n<p><b>Watch the complete card on ESPN+<\/b><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>ESPN had Blaydes ranked No.  4 at heavyweight and Aspinall No.  6. The headlining fight in London &#8212; Aspinall is from England &#8212; was supposed to hash out one of the next top contenders for the UFC heavyweight title.  Francis Ngannou is still out due to knee surgery.  Many believe former champion Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones could fight later this year for the interim belt, though it&#8217;s dependent on Ngannou&#8217;s recovery.<\/p>\n<p>Blaydes vs.  Aspinall could have set up the next contender after the Miocic vs.  Jones winner.  A fight at UFC Paris in September between Ciryl Gane and Tai Tuivasa is also crucial in the heavyweight hierarchy.  But Ngannou has already beaten Gane and Blaydes.  The fight Saturday was supposed to be a big test for the 29-year-old prospect Aspinall to see if he could make that move up to the elite tier of the division.  Now, it might be a while to find out if he can do that.<\/p>\n<p>While the way this fight ended dashed the UFC&#8217;s plans, all is not lost.  Miocic vs.  Jones makes sense for the interim belt, with Ngannou likely out until 2023 and still in a contract dispute with the UFC.  Ngannou could very well leave the promotion next year and go box.  Jones is the greatest light heavyweight of all time and Miocic is the most successful heavyweight of all time.  That is a very marketable matchup with history on the line for both men.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the UFC can match Blaydes up with the Gane vs.  Tuivasa winner as the situation with Ngannou, Jones and Miocic gets cleared up.  Derrick Lewis and Alexander Volkov are in the mix, too, a step below.  Lewis owns a knockout over Blaydes, while Lewis and Blaydes have beaten Volkov.<\/p>\n<p>The outcome Saturday is unfortunate for Aspinall and Blaydes, too.  But Blaydes shouldn&#8217;t be discredited.  He has a terrific r\u00e9sum\u00e9, and his only losses in the UFC going back to 2016 are to Lewis and Ngannou twice.  Blaydes should still be in a strong position coming off this not-so-satisfying win with potential fresh matchups with Miocic, Jones, Gane or Tuivasa ahead of him.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>There&#8217;s substance behind Paddy Pimblett&#8217;s hype<\/h3>\n<div data-behavior=\"video_scroll\" class=\"contentItem__content contentItem__content--media-card contentItem__content--fullWidth contentItem__content--inline\">\n<figure data-video=\"native,640,360,34286009\" data-cerebro-id=\"62dc6f52be6ab330400ec020\" class=\"media-wrapper_image video\" data-source=\"espn\"><picture class=\"media-wrapper_image\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/a3.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fmedia%2Fmotion%2F2022%2F0723%2Fdm_220723_Paddy_post_fight_interview%2Fdm_220723_Paddy_post_fight_interview.jpg&amp;w=640&amp;h=360&amp;cquality=80&amp;format=jpg\" media=\"(min-width: 376px)\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/a3.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fmedia%2Fmotion%2F2022%2F0723%2Fdm_220723_Paddy_post_fight_interview%2Fdm_220723_Paddy_post_fight_interview.jpg&amp;w=335&amp;cquality=80, https:\/\/a3.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fmedia%2Fmotion%2F2022%2F0723%2Fdm_220723_Paddy_post_fight_interview%2Fdm_220723_Paddy_post_fight_interview.jpg&amp;w=670&amp;cquality=40&amp;format=jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 375px)\"><img class=\" lazyload lazyload\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><span class=\"video-play-button\" data-id=\"34286009\">play<\/span><figcaption class=\"media-caption\">\n<p>2:16<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"contentItem__contentWrapper\">\n<p class=\"contentItem__subhead\">Paddy Pimblett emotionally discusses dedicating his win to two friends who died this past week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Okamoto:<\/strong> It pays to stand out in mixed martial arts.  Every day, fighters try to do it however they can.  The best are the ones who don&#8217;t have to <i>try<\/i>.  It comes naturally.  Pimblett is a fantastic example of that right now.  He&#8217;s getting a &#8220;UFC push,&#8221; and building some &#8220;hype,&#8221; but that&#8217;s not stemming from any concerted effort by Pimblett himself.  He&#8217;s just doing him.<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s blowing up to arguably unhealthy weights between his fights because that&#8217;s what he wants to do.  He&#8217;s dropping his pants to the haters and cameras at a weigh-in because he wants to.  Most importantly, his victories in the Octagon are legitimate, because that&#8217;s what he really wants.  He&#8217;s been matchmade appropriately, he&#8217;s faced some adversity, and he&#8217;s 3-0 with three finishes.  Add in the message he delivered on suicide prevention Saturday after the fight was nothing short of beautiful.  In back-to-back fights now, Pimblett has addressed mental health (on Saturday) and said no child in Liverpool will ever go hungry if he ever makes superstar money in MMA (in March).  He didn&#8217;t do either of those things for attention.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, Pimblett is becoming a star because he&#8217;s getting a push.  But he&#8217;s also turning into a star because he&#8217;s authentic, and that&#8217;s something any brand can get behind.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>McCann has star potential, let&#8217;s give her a real test<\/h3>\n<div data-behavior=\"video_scroll\" class=\"contentItem__content contentItem__content--media-card contentItem__content--fullWidth contentItem__content--inline\">\n<figure data-video=\"native,640,360,34285704,whitelist-LA|FJ|SG|KH|TH|NZ|VN|US|AS|GU|MP|PR|VI|UM|MY|BN|PK|PH|AU|ID|HK|MH|PW|MM|AF|MO|FM|\" data-cerebro-id=\"62dc58aabe6ab330400e98a6\" class=\"media-wrapper_image video\" data-source=\"espn\"><picture class=\"media-wrapper_image\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fmedia%2Fmotion%2F2022%2F0723%2Fdm_220723_Molly_McCann_UFC%2Fdm_220723_Molly_McCann_UFC.jpg&amp;w=640&amp;h=360&amp;cquality=80&amp;format=jpg\" media=\"(min-width: 376px)\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fmedia%2Fmotion%2F2022%2F0723%2Fdm_220723_Molly_McCann_UFC%2Fdm_220723_Molly_McCann_UFC.jpg&amp;w=335&amp;cquality=80, https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fmedia%2Fmotion%2F2022%2F0723%2Fdm_220723_Molly_McCann_UFC%2Fdm_220723_Molly_McCann_UFC.jpg&amp;w=670&amp;cquality=40&amp;format=jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 375px)\"><img class=\" lazyload lazyload\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><span class=\"video-play-button restricted\" data-id=\"34285704\">play<\/span><figcaption class=\"media-caption\">\n<p>0:54<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"contentItem__contentWrapper\">\n<p class=\"contentItem__subhead\">Molly &#8220;Meatball&#8221; McCann overwhelms Hannah Goldy with a barrage of strikes to take home the first-round knockout.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>Raimondi:<\/b> Molly McCann is one of the pound-for-pound most entertaining fighters on the UFC roster.  She had another exciting finish on Saturday in London, bludgeoning Hannah Goldy with strikes, including a spinning back fist.  Four months ago, the Liverpool-born fighter beat Luana Carolina with a spinning back fist in London.  It&#8217;s clear to everyone that the UFC can put McCann&#8217;s name on a card in the United Kingdom, she&#8217;ll sell tickets and, against the right opponent, she can create highlights and moments.  After her finishes, she often jumps out of the cage to celebrate with the fans.  In March, she grabbed a replica UFC title from a fan and brought that back with her to the Octagon.<\/p>\n<p>Now, it might be time to see if she can go after the actual UFC title.  McCann is on a three-fight winning streak in the women&#8217;s flyweight division and it&#8217;s time for a step up.  Maybe before the end of the year, the UFC can bring McCann to the United States and give her a big fight on a pay-per-view card.  No one is saying for McCann to fight champion Valentina Shevchenko right now;  McCann lost to Lara Procopio just last year, after all.  But the UFC has something in &#8220;Meatball Molly.&#8221;  She has a ton of charisma and all of her fights are exciting.  If she can pick up a win over someone like Jennifer Maia, Amanda Ribas or Andrea Lee, it could cement her as one of the biggest stars in the women&#8217;s divisions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>    .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>6:35 PM ET Brett Okamoto Close ESPN Staff Writer MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for &#8220;MMA Live&#8221; Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Marc Raimondi What were the biggest moments at UFC Fight Night in London? Brett Okamoto and Marc Raimondi offer up their takeaways from an action-packed event in England. What does the UFC &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ufc-london-takeaways-resetting-the-heavyweight-title-mix-after-blaydes-aspinall\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">UFC London takeaways &#8212; Resetting the heavyweight title mix after Blaydes-Aspinall<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[10574,2527,10575,10576,2534,10563,10544,10577,10543,1099],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23775,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/curtis-blaydes-shuts-down-tom-aspinall-rematch\/","url_meta":{"origin":23959,"position":0},"title":"Curtis Blaydes shuts down Tom Aspinall rematch","date":"July 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"LONDON \u2013 Curtis Blaydes is understandably disappointed with how the UFC Fight Night 208 main event unfolded, but has no choice but to move forward. Blaydes (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) was awarded the TKO victory just 15 seconds into Saturday's heavyweight headliner when Tom Aspinall (12-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) appeared\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mmajunkie.usatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/91\/2022\/07\/curtis-blaydes-tom-aspinall-ufc-fight-night-208-7.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23829,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/tom-aspinall-reacts-to-freak-accident-injury-loss\/","url_meta":{"origin":23959,"position":1},"title":"Tom Aspinall reacts to &#8216;freak accident&#8217; injury loss","date":"July 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Tom Aspinall is taking a devastating UFC Fight Night 208 main event result in stride. Saturday's heavyweight headliner at The O2 in London was brought to an abrupt end just 15 seconds in when Aspinall (12-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) a knee injury that sent him to the canvas in agony.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mmajunkie.usatoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/91\/2022\/07\/tom-aspinall-ufc-fight-night-208-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24246,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/tom-aspinall-shares-beer-with-curtis-blaydes-after-ufc-london-thanks-medics-after-freak-injury\/","url_meta":{"origin":23959,"position":2},"title":"Tom Aspinall shares beer with Curtis Blaydes after UFC London, thanks medics after &#8216;freak injury&#8217;","date":"July 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Tom Aspinall's immediate future remains unknown after his brutal fighting-ending injury at UFC London. But he is taking the setback in stride and vows to \u201ccome back stronger\u201d after his injury TKO loss to Curtis Blaydes. Aspinall released a pair of statements after Saturday's event thanking the UFC, doctors and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24108,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/im-not-risking-my-ranking-curtis-blaydes-wont-rematch-tom-aspinall-after-injury-tko-at-ufc-london\/","url_meta":{"origin":23959,"position":3},"title":"&#8216;I&#8217;m not risking my ranking&#8217; &#8211; Curtis Blaydes won&#8217;t rematch Tom Aspinall after injury TKO at UFC London","date":"July 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Curtis Blaydes is uninterested in a rematch with Tom Aspinall despite the unfortunate ending of their fight at UFC London on Saturday. Blaydes notched a 15-second TKO over Aspinall after the Team Kaobon product blew out his knee on a kick. Although he got the win, 'Razor' was frustrated with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21637,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/jon-jones-fires-back-at-tiny-curtis-blaydes-bro-you-literally-sound-ridiculous\/","url_meta":{"origin":23959,"position":4},"title":"Jon Jones fires back at &#8216;Tiny&#8217; Curtis Blaydes: &#8216;Bro you literally sound ridiculous&#8217;","date":"July 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"There's an easy way to get Jon Jones to clap back, and that's by doubting his abilities. UFC London headliner Curtis Blaydes is the latest to find that out after he predicted the ex-champ would lose to Stipe Miocic in an interview on MMA Fighting's The Fighter vs. The Writer.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23473,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ufc-london-live-stream-results-blaydes-vs-aspinall-play-by-play-updates\/","url_meta":{"origin":23959,"position":5},"title":"UFC London live stream results, &#8216;Blaydes vs.  Aspinall&#8217; play-by-play updates","date":"July 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"UFC London live stream results: The promotion is once again staging its unique brand of mixed martial arts (MMA) action \u201cacross the pond\u201d with its latest and greatest (and conveniently daytime) ESPN+ broadcast of \u201cBlaydes vs. Aspinall,\u201d where Tom Aspinall will resume his march toward the heavyweight title by disposing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/a1.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=\/photo\/2022\/0723\/r1039744_1296x729_16-9.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23959"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23959\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}