UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall reveals he’s set to copy Leon Edwards’ work with a health expert ahead of the late UFC 304 start time.
Since its announcement, the ridiculous 3 AM local start time for UFC 304 in Manchester, England, has been slammed by fighters and fans from across the MMA world.
Yet as it remains highly unlikely that the promotion will be changing the PPV window this close to the UK event going down in July, the two British champions topping the card have now been forced to consider alternative options.
Tom Aspinall reveals Leon Edwards’ secret weapon for UFC 304 start time
UFC interim heavyweight king Tom Aspinall was in attendance for boxing champion Savannah Marshall’s PFL debut last night in Newcastle, England, which the MMA newcomer came through with a first-round knockout in front of her hometown faithful.
Speaking to Title Sports Network after the event concluded, Aspinall revealed that welterweight champion Leon Edwards has a ‘secret weapon’ when it comes to preparing for the late UFC 304 start time.
“Yeah, so Leon has employed a sleep specialist,” revealed the heavyweight king, explaining how “I knew about this before because I know Leon’s manager, so I was kind of like ‘I’m not going to set anything in stone in my mind [for my routine] until I spoke to Leon on what he’s doing’.
“Leon basically gave me a full breakdown of his sleep pattern. So, I’m essentially going to copy Leon without having to pay for a sleep specialist; that’s the plan, I don’t want to pay anybody so I’m just getting the advice off Leon and I’m just following what Leon’s doing.”
The fan-favorite British juggernaut, who claimed interim UFC gold in his round-one demolition of Sergei Pavlovich last year, admitted that when it comes to dealing with sleep specialists, sleep coaches, or similar snooze experts; he doesn’t like the pressure of agonizing over factors outside of his natural control.
“I’ve not really spoken to anyone [else about this] to be honest, I guess I don’t want to overthink it… It’s a big deal but I’m a bit weird about sleep anyway.
“Like if I miss an hour of sleep, I’m like ‘Oh my god I’m exhausted’ so I’m just going to focus on the fight and control what I can control, follow the sleep pattern, and just see how it goes.”
Aspinall is expected to make his walk to the octagon around 4:15 AM local time on fight night, with Edwards predicted to be stepping into the cage at approximately 5 AM.
According to Edwards, the reason for the 3 AM local start is that the PPV was originally set for Salt Lake City, Utah, and when the location was switched to Manchester, the UFC was unable to change the PPV time with their respective broadcast partners.
Aspinall expects the start time to impact fans more than fighters
Whilst the 31-year-old British superstar acknowledged that he hopes his fight is “exciting enough that everyone stays awake anyway,” he did also note that the brutal 3 AM local start time for the UFC 304 main card will impact attendees far more than his fellow athletes.
“I actually think that it’s a lot harder for the fans than it is for the fighters… [I went to] Bisping’s fight years ago when he fought Dan Henderson in Manchester [and] it’s much tougher for fans.”
Aspinall explained how as fighters, “once our adrenaline is going, and we’ve got weeks to prepare for it like I’m going to adjust my body clock bit by bit – shout out Leon Edwards’ sleep coach – so I’m going to be alright,” but the fans might struggle.
“The fans aren’t going to start preparing their body to stay up late, they’ll just have to wing it so it’s a lot worse.”
Despite being the #1 ranked heavyweight in the world with an interim title over his shoulder, the 14-3 powerhouse was just as unaware of the start time as fans were; prompting him to ask whether the start time could be changed himself.
“It’ll be fine, ideally it would have been on UK time – I actually asked the UFC bosses if we can change it [because] I found out online like everybody else.”
UFC 304 is scheduled for July 27 from the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England – Aspinall will feature in the co-main event against Curtis Blaydes, whilst Edwards will face long-term rival Belal Muhammad in the main event.