Tom Aspinall was thrilled to find out that Jon Jones actually knows who he is.
After his performance at UFC London on Saturday night, it’s safe to say that every heavyweight in the division knows who Aspinall is. The UK native delivered a spectacular showing to close out a stacked card inside the iconic O2 Arena, scoring a 73-second knockout against Marcin Tybura a year after suffering a devastating knee injury against Curtis Blaydes.
Following the win, Aspinall laid out a three-step that would ultimately lead to a clash with reigning UFC heavyweight world champion Jon Jones. The callout got the attention of Jones, who quickly took to Twitter and responded to Aspinall’s comments. “Sounds good lol,” Jones tweeted. Asked about Jones’ response during the UFC London post-fight press event, Aspinall was admittedly impressed by the fact that Jon Jones even knew who he was.
“Jon Jones knows I exist. That’s a win in itself,” Aspinall said with a laugh. “I’m buzzing with that. What I want to do, I’ve been saying it all week is, I want to win my fights going forward, of course. But also, another goal of mine is I want to motivate Jon Jones to stick around and fight me. That is my absolute dream, mate.”
He continued, “A guy from Atherton fight Jon Jones? Oh my goodness, that would be incredible.”
Part of Aspinall’s three-step plan includes making a trip to Paris in September when the UFC heads there for a Fight Night event headlined by a heavyweight clash between No. 2 ranked contender Ciryl Gane and streaking standout Serghei Spivac. Aspinall hopes to face the winner in a potential title eliminator. However, that could leave Aspinall on the sidelines for quite some time. Asked if he’s open to taking another fight in the interim, Aspinall said:
“I’m easy, mate. Throw me in there with anybody, but I just think that fight makes sense. It’s in Paris. I’ll get a little cheeky trip to Paris. Have a few beers, eat some frog legs, and all that. Chill out a little bit and hopefully work for TNT Sport while I’m there and yeah, just be able to watch the fight. Be involved with it. Build the next fight up. I think that just works well for everybody.”
Ciryl Gane Warns Tom Aspinall to Be Careful What He Wishes For
One potential option for Aspinall is a clash with fellow knockout artist Sergei Pavlovich. The pair were previously scheduled to scrap in 2021, but Pavlovich withdrew due to visa issues.
“I’ve been matched up with Pavlovich twice before,” Aspinall continued. “Both times he’s pulled out which I’m not saying that he’s scared of me. I’m just saying that’s what’s happened. We’re all gonna fight each other anyway so what does it matter what order it’s in really?”
As it turns out, Jon Jones wasn’t the only fighter that responded to Tom Aspinall’s callout on Saturday night. Ciryl Gane took to social media, suggesting the Brit should be careful what he wishes for.
“I better be careful, apparently. I think I might jump pretty well against him,” Aspinall said. “I think I’m equally as fast as him. I’ll move equally as well. The difference is I can grapple and I’ve got a lot of power and I think that’s pretty undeniable at this stage in my career. I’ve got a lot of knockouts on my record, mate. I had to touch you once and I wasn’t even throwing heavyweight tonight. I thought it was going to be a five-rounder. I didn’t mean to knock him out. I thought it was going to be a five-round [fight].”
Great performance Tom, careful what you wish for.
See you in Paris 😉
— Ciryl Gane (@ciryl_gane) July 22, 2023
With the win, Tom Aspinall is now 6-1 inside the Octagon, his lone loss the result of a freak knee injury 15 seconds into his matchup with Curtis Blaydes last year. All six of his victories have come by way of finish with only one of his opponents, Andrei Arlovski, escaping the first round.
