Tom Aspinall IGNORING Jon Jones and outside noise ahead of UFC 304 as Brit champion imposes social media blackout

TOM ASPINALL has found it incredibly easy to ignore Jon Jones’ recent jibes about his bid to unify the heavyweight titles.

UFC Hall of Famer Jones has been vocal about his belief that current interim title holder Aspinall isn’t worthy of sharing the octagon with him.

GETTYTom Aspinall became interim UFC heavyweight champion last November[/caption]

GETTYBut a unification bout with undisputed champ Jon Jones is seemingly a million miles away[/caption]

TOM ASPINALLAspinall has had to deal with several verbal jabs from Jones in recent weeks[/caption]

GETTYAspinall hasn’t seen any of Jones’ comments due to a social media blackout ahead of his octagon return[/caption]

Jones‘ recent taunts – which have included labelling Aspinall the “intern champion” – and his doubling down of a fight with Stipe Miocic have made waves.

But they haven’t come to the attention of Aspinall, who is on a social media blackout until after his next octagon outing.

Speaking ahead of the filming of the latest episode of TNT Sports‘ Tom Aspinall’s Fight Lab, he told SunSport: “It’s been pretty easy [to ignore, mate], as I’m off social media so I don’t see it.

“People in the street tell me stuff, though. “But honestly, it doesn’t bother me. I don’t know Jon, I’m not focused on Jon.

“When Jon signs on the dotted line to fight me, I’ll be focused on Jon.

“But right now, I’m fighting Curtis Blaydes and I couldn’t really give a s**t about what anyone else says to be honest with you.”

Aspinall, much to the disappointment of many, will defend his interim heavyweight title on July 27 in the co-main event of UFC 304 in Manchester.

The fan favourite will face perennial contender Curtis Blaydes in a rematch nearly two years in the making.

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UFCTom Aspinall rematches Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event of UFC 304[/caption]

Aspinall, 31, suffered a horror knee injury in their first meeting at London’s O2 Arena, which briefly sent him into a dark spiral.

And the Wigan warrior will have the opportunity to exorcise the memory of that fateful night in front of his loved ones just a stone’s throw away from home.

But, at this moment in time, the redemption a win over Blaydes will bring him is well and truly at the back of his mind.

He said: “I’m not thinking about anything else right now. All the other stuff doesn’t matter.

“It’s honestly just completely irrelevant to me all that stuff.

“Interim title, all the politics that go with it – fighting in Manchester the time difference.

“There are so many different factors that you can sit there and worry about.

“But ultimately, I can’t let that affect me, I can’t let that creep into my psyche.

“I’ve just got to think about one thing: Curtis Blaydes and what I’ve got to do against him. All that other stuff, I’ll think about after.”

Both men have shown remarkable improvements since that summer‘s night in North Greenwich.

“He’s looked good [since we fought],” Aspinall said of the American. “He took a loss to Pavlovich. But Pavlovch is an absolute truck.

“If you stand and trade with Pavlovich, there’s a chance he’s gonna knock your head off.

ReutersTom Aspinall suffered a horror knee injury in his first meeting with Curtis Blaydes nearly two years ago[/caption]

“And that’s pretty much what happened in Curtis’ case.

“And he came back and he won, he derailed a hype train, so to speak, in Almeida. He did the perfect performance against him.

“He looked good and he showed a couple of things I wasn’t aware of in his game.

“We’ve never seen someone attack Curtis hard with the grappling and how does Curtis look defensively.

“And I saw a couple things there that I’ve not seen before, which is good. A nice little bit of exposure there for his last fight.

“But Curtis is dangerous, Curtis is good everywhere. The guy is a veteran of the game and he’s been around forever.

“I think I read somewhere that he’s been in the UFC since he was 25, he’s like 33 or 34 now.

“So the guy’s an absolute veteran of the game and he’s done it all.

“He’s a tough fight and I’ve got to prepare for him as hard, if not harder, than I have ever before.”

Watch Tom Aspinall’s Fight Lab on TNT Sports and discovery+ from 9:45pm on Sunday. For more info visit tntsports.com

TNT SPORTSTom Aspinall’s Fight Lab is available on TNT Sports and discovery+[/caption]