"I know the next matchup already" - Curtis Blaydes on why he will not be looking for a title shot if he beats Tom Aspinall at UFC London

Curtis Blaydes doesn't have championship gold in his crosshairs with a win this weekend. 'Razor' clashes with Tom Aspinall in the UFC London main event on July 23. This is the sophomore bout of the calendar year for Blaydes and the same can be said for Aspinall.

Speaking with Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA leading into the fight, Blaydes covered several subjects including being indifferent to the fans booing him as the away player. He also answered questions about whether he has been consciously doing less media and much more.

When asked if he sees the victor here fighting the winner of the upcoming Ciryl Gane vs Tai Tuivasa, Blaydes said:

"I'm not going to ask for a title shot because I already know realistically why would the guy? I'm number five, he's number six. I knock him out in the first round with a superman uppercut. What about Gane and Tuivasa?"

Curtis Blaydes continued:

"Does that mean they don't deserve to fight me? I don't think that's how it works. I'm not going to ask for a title shot. I know the next matchup already. I think the world knows the next matchup."

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Aspinall is the partisan favorite here and this is the second consecutive UFC London main event for the British bruiser.

The magnitude of this top-of-the-marquee throwdown between the pair of top ten ranked heavyweights lingers in the air as fight week carries on.

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Curtis Blaydes' road to UFC London

'Razor' is entering this weekend's fight on the heels of back-to-back victories. Rebounding from his second-round knockout loss to Derrick Lewis, Blaydes first bested Jairzinho Rozenstruik via unanimous decision at UFC 266 last September.

He then defeated Chris Daukaus via strikes in the second round of their March UFC Fight Night main event bout.

The only other career mixed martial arts losses for Blaydes, besides the aforementioned Lewis loss, are a pair of defeats to the current UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

'Razor' has been a UFC fighter since April 2016 and has taken on everyone from rising contenders to former champions. Blaydes has notched up significant victories over Junior dos Santos, Alexander Volkov, Alistair Overeem, Mark Hunt, and Aleksei Oleinik, to name a few.