"Now I like him" - Curtis Blaydes details post-fight meet with Tom Aspinall, expects to face him again in the UFC

Curtis Blaydes (L) and Tom Aspinall (R) [Image Courtesy:@tomaspinallofficial on Instagram]

Curtis Blaydes and Tom Aspinall shared a beer together after their brief fight on July 23.

Appearing on a recent episode of The MMA Hour and speaking with Ariel Helwani, Blaydes discussed the various facets of the fifteen-second UFC London main event bout versus Aspinall.

Aspinall showed a lot of character by staying composed enough after the devastating injury to have a laugh at the end of the ordeal.

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When asked how their post-fight meet-up for beers came about, Blaydes said:

"Random. I was in my room. Obviously, we're in the same hotel. I guess he (Tom Aspinall) was in the lobby. The bar is in the lobby area... My dad is a talker — he'll make friends with anybody. He'll be your best friend... I guess he got to talking, and then my dad calls up to my room. He was like let's go up to Aspinall's room, he wants to have a drink with you."

"I'm like, 'Ok, I'm down.' Then we go up there, and they were really nice. The whole [Aspinall family], his whole squad. His dad, his uncle, everyone. Everyone was super nice, super cool. I was just like, 'Ah, I wish I hadn't have gone up there, because now I like him'... You don't want to fight someone you like. I know we're gonna scrap again."

Watch the interview/ video below:

Curtis Blaydes' present situation

Curtis Blaydes is now on a three-fight winning streak after his victory against Aspinall. 'Razor' also bested Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Chris Daukaus during that stretch.

The Chicago-born fighter is the No.4-ranked heavyweight contender in the UFC as of this writing. Twelve of his seventeen mixed martial arts wins have come by way of KO and TKO.

Blaydes has fought reigning UFC heavyweight world champion Francis Ngannou twice, going 0-2 in the series. His first fight against 'The Predator' took place in his UFC debut, while the rematch occurred over two-and-a-half years later during the main event of UFC Fight Night 141.

Despite these losses, 'Razor' has been a stalwart of the heavyweight top ten for the bulk of his six plus year tenure with Ultimate Fighting Championship.