UFC 304 takeaways: Tom Aspinall earns shot at Jon Jones, Belal Muhammad deserves respect

If politeness counts for anything, Tom Aspinall should get his wish. The UFC interim heavyweight champion went out there in the UFC 304 co-main event and dusted Curtis Blaydes in just 60 seconds, then turned his attention on the division’s reigning champ, Jon Jones.

“Hello Jon,” Aspinall said into the camera following his win over Blaydes. “I have nothing against you personally, but I just think I’m better than you. I just know that I can beat you in a fight, so I’m coming for it.”

This was met with a roar of general approval from the early morning crowd at Co-op Live in Manchester, England. It was also met with widespread agreement on many of the MMA corners of the internet, where fans and media and even fellow fighters chimed in to say just how much they’d like to see Aspinall get his shot.

It makes sense, after all. Here’s Aspinall, the interim belt-holder. There’s Jones, the actual belt-holder. Having Aspinall defend this version of the title against Blaydes while Jones prepares for a separate fight against former champ Stipe Miocic was already silly enough. To stick with the Jones vs. Miocic plan now would be all the way ludicrous.

Partly that’s because, as the UFC has learned the hard way at times, the window of opportunity on fights like these can slam shut in a hurry. Remember when we were talking about the dream showdown of Jones against Francis Ngannou? Rather than opening the war chest to make it happen, the UFC brass opted instead to bicker with one side and then the other, with the end result being no fight at all.

But there’s also the fact that if you don’t put Aspinall in a fight with Jones now, what would you possibly do with him instead? He’s already fought and beaten the other heavyweights who matter. He can’t keep defending an interim title forever. Unifying the titles is the only thing that makes sense, and putting Aspinall on the shelf so Jones can check off another box on his personal legacy to-do list would be the worst kind of waste.

Aspinall did everything you could possibly ask of him. He fought all the contenders. He finished them all quickly. He even got up on TV and asked ever so nicely. You really want to tell him no just so Miocic can get his first fight in more than three years? Are we actually going to hit the snooze button on a guy who might be the UFC heavyweight division’s future all so we can have one more glimpse of its past?

Now for a few other thoughts on UFC 304:

– How can you not be at least a little bit happy for Belal Muhammad? Hated. Dismissed. Mocked for his own relentless self-belief. But when he finally got his UFC title shot, he proved that he deserved to be there. Muhammad came bursting out of the gates in the UFC 304 main event while Leon Edwards struggled to get started. Muhammad ragdolled the champ early and then held on late to become the new UFC welterweight champ, a title few outside his own inner circle thought he had any chance of winning.

It’s been a long road for Muhammad. For whatever reason, this sport just doesn’t seem to want to give him the respect he deserves. Even with his long unbeaten streak, he was consistently dismissed right up until the moment he walked across the cage and planted the champ on his back. Now he’s giving us all no choice. No longer asking for our respect, Muhammad went into enemy territory and took it. Whatever else you want to say about him, you absolutely must say that.

– That is not the strategy I expected from King Green … or the win I expected from Paddy Pimblett. And yet, that’s why they have the fights, right? Green’s decision to shoot for a first-round takedown put him right where Pimblett wanted him. You can’t invite that guy to latch onto your neck and not expect him to make the most of it. Thus does the improbable rise of “The Baddy” continue. Skill-wise, there seem to be holes in the game. Other fighters practically salivated over them. Pimblett doesn’t seem like he should keep getting away with this, but he does. And here he actually looked very sharp doing it.

– So long and good luck, Muhammad Mokaev. He started a hotel brawl with his opponent on fight week, then straight up admitted that he did it on purpose with a very intentional cheap shot during a fake photo op. And if you thought maybe that was OK since at least it would guarantee a war in the cage on fight night, nope, guess again. Mokaev even had the nerve to do the Max Holloway point, only to refuse to deliver as promised in the center of the cage. UFC president Dana White said afterward that matchmakers weren’t interested in re-signing Mokaev, and it’s not hard to see why. Let him take this act elsewhere. See if he can figure out how to make it worth watching there.