Tom Aspinall is ready to prove he is the best Heavyweight in the world, following his victory at UFC 304.
The Atherton native met Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event of the stacked card that went down at the Co-op Live, Manchester on Saturday July 27.
The bout was a rematch, with the two having first met back in 2022, when seconds into the contest, Aspinall suffered a freak knee injury 15 seconds into the fight that left him unable to continue. This time round, the contest only lasted 45 seconds longer, but with a very different outcome and Aspinall getting his hand raised with a TKO stoppage.
Always striving for perfection in the octagon, Aspinall felt his performance was below par but knew that if he could land clean, the contest would play out exactly as it did, even if there were a couple of elements that did surprise him. Addressing the media post-fight, the interim champion said:
“The performance was a bit messy, to be honest. If I hit anybody clean, they are going over. That's what's going on these days, if I hit someone clean, they're going over and there's no arguments about that, it's proven now. Curtis was actually a lot slower than I thought, but he had really long arms. So a few of his punches, I thought were going to miss and they got me. We were still both finding our range as the fight kind of progressed a little bit. I managed to catch one and it was over.”
Inevitably, the questions around if Aspinall will ever face the champion, Jon Jones, arose. At the time of Aspinall speaking to the media, there had been no word from Jones following Aspinall’s first round stoppage. For the Atherton man, it is strictly business between him and ‘Bones’, nothing personal.
“I didn’t know that we hadn't (heard from him yet). I'm sure we will at some stage, he’ll be very angry about it, at the fact everyone is saying that can beat him, but that's okay.
“On the contrary to what Jon Jones’ fanboys might think, I have nothing against Jon Jones as a person. I think I'm the best heavyweight in the world and if he thinks he is the best heavyweight in the world, let's settle it. Simple as that. It's not rocket science. There are two guys claiming to be the best heavyweight in the world.
"Let's settle it. Simple as that.”
Michael Bisping has made no secret of the fact he believes Aspinall could go on to become one of the best to every compete in the sport of mixed martial arts. With a stack of self-belief and keen to manage expectations, Aspinall first gave plaudits to the first UK UFC champion Bisping, before admitting he is unsure how long he has left in his career but sees no reason he cannot fully reach his potential before calling it a day.
“Bisping is legend in UK MMA, I think it's not right just to call him a legend in UK MMA, he's a legend in MMA but I think I can I think I can definitely fulfil that. I feel like I've got the I've got what it takes.
"Do you know what I mean? And I've thought this for a long time, but obviously I didn't have the proof to back it up but now, now I do. I think that people are starting to jump on the bandwagon a bit and if you’re not, I'll work on proving you wrong. For right now, I've got a lot more work to do so I'm not getting ahead of myself, one fight at a time and all that stuff.
"For right now, I don't know how long I'm going to stay in the sport for. Like, I know now I'm 31, heavyweights go a lot longer than other divisions, but I'm definitely on the second half of my career now.
"So I want to make as much money and get as much glory as possible and have as many fights as possible. Like I want to I want to be as active as I can, so we'll see what happens."
