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Since his UFC debut, Tom Aspinall has attracted huge attention from UFC fans and has made it clear that he will pose a threat to any opponent he faces. He has won against his first five opponents (Jake Collier, Alan Baudot, Andrei Arlovski, Sergei Pavlovich and Alexander Volkov) by stoppage, and the fighting public was convinced that Curtis Blaydes, whom the British heavyweight will fight for the first time in late July 2022 at London's O2 Arena, would also have the same problems.
Things, however, did not go according to plan. Aspinall, as a reminder, suffered a knee injury at the very start of the match and lost by technical knockout in just 15 seconds. During an appearance on the VechtersBazen Podcast, the 31-year-old Briton looked back on his only defeat under the auspices of the UFC and admitted how hard it was for him.
"When I lost the fight to Blaydes through injury, it was a big ego-killer. Being on my back, not even fighting, with an injured knee, in front of 25,000 home fans, that's very difficult," Aspinall said, adding: "It was an elimination fight for a title challenger at the time. Looking back now, it's probably the best thing that could have happened to me, but at the time it was very difficult."
Such moments can be an important lesson for the fighters, and an opportunity to fix certain things, but it seems they make the biggest difference on the mental level. Aspinall realized some things after such a defeat, worked a lot on himself, and it seems that he is on the right track to arrange a fight with Jon Jones.
Fans hope the Englishman will celebrate in this bout, although it is hard to imagine Jones losing to anyone. Despite his age, he still seems unstoppable, but we have no doubt that Aspinall will give his all to beat him.
Dana White confirmed this fight is the priority for the future. Can the 31-year-old be the first person to stop the legendary Jones?
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