British MMA heroes Pimblett, Aspinall win big in UFC 304

MANILA, Philippines – “What’s up?”

In the early goings of the first round between Paddy Pimblett and King Green in UFC 304 held last Sunday, July 28, in England, the latter kept talking to the former as he threw leg kicks.

At one point, Green threw himself at Pimblett, looking for a takedown. Except his head was too low and the Englishman quickly locked him up and took him to the ground where he threw several submission maneuvers at the American.

It was the triangle choke, however, that put Green to sleep and a sold out Co-op in Manchester, England let out a loud roar. 

So what’s up?

The 29-year-old Pimblett grabbed his eighth consecutive win, his sixth in the UFC to hike his overall record to 22-3-0. And as an added perk, was the recipient of the Performance of the Night bonus. It was Pimblett’s fourth Performance of the Night award in the UFC and he is climbing up the rankings. 

This win should place him in the Top 15 rankings of the lightweight division where he will supplant Green. Three more fights and wins should put him in a collision course with current belt holder Islam Makhachev. 
 
Meanwhile, interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall took on No.4 Curtis Blaydes two years on from their first encounter, and reversed his fate with everything on the line. 

In less than one minute of the opening round, Aspinall landed a right punch that sat down Blaydes, and he finished up with ground and pound. 

Setting himself up as the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, Aspinall said, "First of all, I want to say a massive respect to Curtis, what a human being this guy is. I had nothing against him personally, but we needed to 'put that one to bed'. And now I got my revenge. I'm the best finisher in the UFC. I just spoke to the bossman. Who wants to see Tom Aspinall versus Jon Jones? Hello Jon, I have nothing against you personally, I just know that I can beat you in a fight, so I'm coming for you! Sometimes, normal people can do extraordinary things, and I'm proof of it."

Aspinall also received the Performance of the Night Award bonus as he improved his overall fight record to 15-3-0.

The next UFC event is UFC Fight Night Cory Sandhagen vs Umar Nurmagomedov that will be held this Sunday, August 4, and will be televised live in the Philippines over the Premier Sports channel on Skycable and Cignal as well as on the Blast TV streaming application.