Tom Aspinall to seek advice from Leon Edwards, who hired a sleep specialist ahead of UFC 304
Tom Aspinall is still trying to figure out how heâll fight overnight at UFC 304.
Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) defends his interim title in a rematch against Curtis Blaydes (18-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) in the July 27 co-headliner (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
Aspinall has expressed his concern about fighting in the middle of the night on numerous occasions, but plans on mimicking the methods of welterweight champion Leon Edwards, who runs things back with Belal Muhammad in the nightâs headliner.
âLeon has employed a sleep specialist,â Aspinall told Title Sports Network. âI knew about this before because I know Leonâs manager, so I was kind of like, Iâm not going to set anything in stone in my mind until I spoke to Leon on what heâs doing.
âLeon basically gave me a full breakdown of his sleep pattern. So Iâm essentially going to copy Leon without paying a sleep specialist. Thatâs the plan. I donât want to pay anybody, so Iâm just getting the advice off Leon and Iâm just following what Leonâs doing.â
Aspinall recalls attending the UFC 204 in 2016, and how he struggled with the overnight timings as a spectator.
âI actually think that itâs a lot harder for the fans than it is for the fighters,â Aspinall said. â(I went to) Bispingâs fight years ago when he fought Dan Henderson in Manchester. Itâs much tougher for fans.
âOnce our adrenaline is going, and weâve got weeks to prepare for it â Iâm going to adjust my body clock bit by bit. Big shout out Leon Edwardsâ sleep coach. Iâm going to do that so Iâm going to be all right, but fans arenât going to start preparing their body to stay up late. They just have to wing it, so itâs a lot worse.â
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