"Curtis is gonna have a field day" - Michael Bisping exclaims after taking down Tom Aspinall in EA Sports UFC 5
With just two days remaining until UFC 304, Michael Bisping has given Tom Aspinall something to think about in his first title defense. The two old friends sat down on July 25 to play a game of EA UFC 5 before the event, Bisping defeated Aspinall in the game, upsetting the interim heavyweight champion.
In the opening moments of their virtual fight, Bisping took Aspinall down with excitement. The 31-year-old simply noted that the game was "unrealistic" as his older counterpart celebrated.
As Bisping landed the takedown, he jokingly said:
"Oh takedown, Tommy! F****** hell, Tom, get it together lad. Curtis [Blaydes] is going to have a field day with you, mate."
Bisping's crack at Aspinall referenced the latter's upcoming interim title fight with Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event of UFC 304. Blaydes is a notorious wrestler, averaging 5.72 takedowns per 15 minutes, though Aspinall has never been taken down in the UFC.
Both British fighters used their characters in the game despite Bisping being much smaller than Aspinall in real life. The UFC commentator was more experienced with the video game and guided his virtual character to beat Aspinall by knockout.
Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes 2 preview
After winning the interim title at UFC 295 on short notice, Tom Aspinall desperately wanted his next fight to be against undisputed king Jon Jones but instead will defend his belt against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304.
The two heavyweights have met once before in England but only fought for 15 seconds before Aspinall tore his MCL in the center of the octagon and lost by injury TKO. Regardless of the ending, Blaydes is the only fighter to own an official win over the Englishman, who is otherwise 7-0 in the UFC.
Since their meeting, Aspinall took a year off to rehab before knocking out Marcin Tybura to set up his interim title fight with Sergei Pavlovich. Blaydes has also fought twice since their original contest, going 1-1 with a loss to Pavlovich and a TKO win over Jailton Almeida.