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Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall won't be short on self-belief when he enters the cage for his first defense this weekend.
Aspinall is set to co-headline the UFC 304 pay-per-view event in his home city of Manchester, England, on July 27. He'll make the walk in the early hours in pursuit of a first title defense and redemption opposite the man against whom he suffered his sole Octagon setback to date.
The Brit briefly shared the cage with Curtis Blaydes in London two years ago, with their UFC Fight Night main event lasting just 15 seconds before Aspinall suffered a freak knee injury.
The 31-year-old has now been presented with the chance to right that wrong, and given the manner with which he captured UFC gold last November, he's extremely confident in his chances of doing so...
Aspinall Full Of Self-Belief After Pulling Off UFC Title Win In 'Worst Circumstances'
During a recent interview with Karyn Bryant, Rashad Evans, and Alan Jouban for ESPN MMA, Aspinall looked ahead to his upcoming defense of the interim title and second dance in the cage with Blaydes.
When it comes to his evolution as a fighter since their first clash in 2022, Aspinall believes the differences are night and day. That includes when it comes to confidence, in large part down to how the Brit was able to dispatch Sergei Pavlovich in less than ideal circumstances eight months ago.
(I've improved) absolutely everywhere (since the first fight against Blaydes)," Aspinall said. "Every fight is different anyway, but I think now, everything is way different about me. Especially after my last performance; I took so much confidence from that. I took the fight on short notice, I took the fight injured, and I still managed to pull it off in the worst circumstances. Feeling pretty confident after that one, feeling pretty good.
Aspinall will look to prove as much by having his hand raised on home soil this Saturday, avenging his unfortunate setback opposite "Razor" and maintaining his grip on the interim heavyweight gold in the process.
His defense will mark the first of two championship rematches set for UFC 304, with fellow UK titleholder Leon Edwards running it back with Belal Muhammad in defense of his welterweight strap.