Tom Aspinall will not stop until he beats the heavyweight champion, Jon Jones.
UFC heavyweight contender Tom Aspinall is looking to make a splash in the division. For the better part of the year, he has been sidelined with an injury but is now on the mend. Aspinall hopped into the UFC back in July 2020 and immediately turned heads. He started off his career in the UFC with five straight finishes before suffering the injury in his last bout.
Aspinall has headlined his last two fights both in London, England, his hometown. His last fight against Curtis Blaydes ended in the first round when he injured his knee. The UFC is now planning a return to London this summer where Aspinall would like to be the headliner once again. He spoke to Petesy Carroll about this and how he expects his style to change the heavyweight division.
“I’m just eager to show everybody. I want to take the heavyweight division to the next level,” he said. “And show people things that heavyweights have never done before and I seriously think I can do that.”
Tom Aspinall may be on a crash course with Jon Jones
Since Aspinall has been out healing from his injury, Jon Jones has taken over as heavyweight champion. This has lit a fire in Aspinall and now he explains how he’s making it his personal mission to work his way up to a Jones fight and beat him to become the champion.
“My mindset is different. I used to be that guy, you know me on a personal level, I was that guy who was friendly, talking to everybody and being super friendly which I just naturally did anyway. But fight week this time there’s going to be absolutely none of that,” he said. “I’m here to finish people. I’m aware that when I say this stuff, there’s gonna be people laughing and having a little snicker but I’m like, very serious about beating Jon Jones and the other guys on the way up. I’m deadly serious about it. That’s my life mission now. I don’t think there’s nothing gonna come in my way.”
Many believe that Aspinall is the man to beat at heavyweight. He is currently ranked fifth in the division and perhaps with one more win over a top contender, he could be the next in line for the belt. He spoke about possibly being matchup up with Tai Tuivasa in London. Tuivasa is currently ranked sixth, and a win over him could make him a clear number-one contender after Jones fights Stipe Miocic.
