Curtis Blaydes sees no issue with Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall believing his own hype, as a select few have suggested.
The pair of hard-hitting behemoths are set to run it back in the co-headliner of this weekend's UFC 304 pay-per-view event, with Aspinall putting his interim title on the line at the Co-op Live arena in his home city of Manchester, England.
The Brit captured the belt with a thunderous and quick knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 inside Madison Square Garden last November. That result has unsurprisingly given Aspinall a major boost in confidence, especially given the circumstances he competed under on the night.
Since then, Aspinall has called for a unification showdown with Jon Jones and received plenty of flak from the champ, who has branded his interim counterpart a possible "hype train" and irrelevant to audiences outside of the United Kingdom.
But while Jones and his supporters have branded Aspinall overconfident, the Englishman's upcoming opponent has leapt to his defense...
Blaydes: 'Nothing Wrong' With Aspinall Drinking His Own Kool-Aid
During an interview with ESPN MMA's Andreas Hale, Blaydes looked ahead to his first opportunity to capture gold on MMA's biggest stage and assessed some of the narratives flying around the heavyweight title picture.
"Razor" was specifically asked about talk of Aspinall's potential and the belief held by the likes of Jones that the interim titleholder may be buying into his own hype too much.
Blaydes insisted only those close to Aspinall would know if that's true, and even if it is, he pointed out that there is nothing wrong with elite athletes claiming to be the best. In fact, he suggested that level of self-belief is a must.
I mean, I can't say as to whether he is or he isn't (drinking his own Kool-Aid). I don't think anybody would be able to tell that besides people in his own inner circle," Blaydes said. "But if he is, can you really blame him? Like, he knocked out Sergei and Jon seems — I don't want to say scared, but he seems apprehensive about the prospect of potentially fighting Aspinall.
I would be a little gassed up also. Ain't nothing wrong with that," Blaydes continued. "I think you have to have that mindset. You've got to be feeling yourself. That goes for any sport. Like, if you ask Joe Burrow right now if he thinks he's the best in the league in his position, he'll say yeah. Even though we probably wouldn't agree, he has to think that way.
Nevertheless, Blaydes will look to show that the interim champ's confidence regarding their own matchup is misplaced when they share the Octagon for the second time at UFC 304 this weekend.
Having had a win over Aspinall added to his record in 2022 courtesy of a freak knee injury suffered by the Brit, "Razor" will look to add a more definitive triumph to his résumé at UFC 304.
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