UFC London: Tom Aspinall suffers first round knee injury against Curtis Blaydes

An emotional Tom Aspinall left the arena on a stretcher

Tom Aspinall's fight against Curtis Blaydes ended in disappointment as the Briton suffered a knee injury 15 seconds into their bout at UFC London on Saturday night.

After a couple of early exchanges, Aspinall, 29, crumpled to the canvas, clutching his knee in pain.

American Blaydes was declared the winner by technical knockout.

"I wish the injury hadn't happened, we didn't get a chance to showcase our skills," said Blaydes.

"I wanted to come here and make a statement.

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"I know a win over him would have meant a title shot and prove that I'm legit."

The result was a dramatic anti-climax to a main event which had promised so much.

With five finishes in his first five fights in the UFC, Manchester's Aspinall has become one of the country's biggest MMA stars and been touted as a future champion.

He has raced up to sixth in the UFC heavyweight rankings and in Blaydes faced the fourth-ranked fighter, who has 11 wins in 15 bouts in the promotion.

A win for Aspinall would have put him on the verge of a title shot.

Aspinall landed awkwardly on his knee after a leg kick

The fight was immediately stopped after Aspinall clutched his knee

Aspinall suffered the third defeat of his career

Aspinall's increasing popularity was evident as he jogged swiftly to the octagon, high-fiving fans who were chanting his name in unison.

Blaydes took a slower approach, showing little emotion as he stepped inside the cage and faced off with Aspinall.

There was a sense pre-fight that it could go either way, with Blaydes' wrestling background being touted as the biggest test of Aspinall's career so far.

It was an intriguing contest fans never got to see however, as injury ended the fight before it gained any momentum.

"It is awful. I had a quick chat with the doctor and he thinks it's the MCL. It's an extremely agonising injury," commentator Michael Bisping said on the BT Sport broadcast.

"Tom is a warrior, Curtis is all class and it's so sad. Injuries happen, it's a freak occurrence but it's sometimes part of the sport."