Tom Aspinall Suffers Serious Knee Injury vs. Curtis Blaydes at UFC Fight Night

The main event of Saturday's UFC Fight Night show from the O2 Arena in London ended after 16 seconds because of an injury suffered by Tom Aspinall.

Aspinall's right knee appeared to buckle when he threw a kick at Curtis Blaydes. He fell to the ground clutching his knee when the referee called for a stoppage.

Blaydes was officially declared the winner by TKO.

This marks the second consecutive UFC main event that has been stopped due to an injury. Brian Ortega suffered a shoulder injury in the final minute of the first round against Yair Rodríguez at the UFC on ABC show on July 16.

There have also been a number of fighters who have suffered leg injuries during matches in the past 12 months. Conor McGregor, Chris Weidman and Modestas Bukauskas all sustained injuries to their lower extremities recently.

Aspinall had been ascending up the UFC heavyweight rankings since signing with the promotion in 2020. The 29-year-old had won each of his first five fights via stoppage, with four of his victories being rewarded with performance of the night bonuses.

Saturday marked Aspinall's first time competing in his native England as a UFC fighter. This was also his first time headlining a show for the promotion.

Factoring in his pre-UFC fights, Aspinall has a 12-3 career record after Saturday's loss. All of his wins have come via stoppage, including nine knockouts. He also won his only professional boxing match via first-round knockout in 2017.

Blaydes is credited with the win, his third straight overall. Razor entered Saturday's show coming off victories over Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Chris Daukaus. He improved his record to 17-3-1 in 21 career fights.