Tom Aspinall dealt with being on the sidelines earlier. But this time, there’s no point in when he might fight again.
July 23rd, 2022. The date of Aspinel’s only UFC defeat. Aspinel’s knee comes out 15 seconds after a headline match against London’s Curtis Braides. The injury slowed Aspinall’s meteor rise, and it wasn’t nearly a year later that he was successful with a 73-second knockout from Marcin Tybura. In one fight, Aspinel beats Sergei Pavlovic even faster and wins the interim title.
Since then, Aspinall has been faithful to his title once, revenging his defeat to Blaydes this July, making him want to fight against indisputable champion Jon Jones. The former light heavyweight king defeated Cyril Gain to win the vacant heavyweight title following Francis Ngannow’s departure, then defended the belt against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 a year after he forced a postponement of the original booking due to Jones’ injury.
Aspinall spoke to Demetrious Johnson Mightycaston how this latest layoff compares to his recovery from a year of injury.
“I was seriously injured and like I made a little money, I really was at a crossroads, like I made enough to buy a house or something, and that’s what I want to keep doing this?” Aspinall said. “It was obviously devastating to get hurt in front of everyone and things. But it was a tough time for me anyway. It took me a year with my knees and all the rehabilitation… physical therapy and stuff like that. I squat down at 90 degrees. I always had a little goal to work on.
“So, after a few months of sitting on the couch, and as soon as I got to the gym and started working towards various things, it was great, it felt good and I was like, “I definitely want to go back.
When Aspinall recovered from his MCL and Meniscus injuries, he knew it would be a long way off, but that path was backed by at least a lot of concrete benchmarks. He’s been dragging Jones for over a year on the assumption that the indisputable champion would welcome a unified match with the interim champion.
That wasn’t the case.
“Now I’ve been inactive for almost a year and there’s no chance of anything other than waiting,” Aspinall said. “So now, it’s actually a little more difficult time mentally than it was back then. And even people are like, ‘Are you okay? How are you coming back?’ And I’m looking forward to this.
“It’s kind of mentally difficult, but this is a fight with John Jones. The fight is another thing. It’s hard for me to really keep on the switch, stay motivated and do my best. It’s tough sometimes.”
One thing Aspinall has kept for so long is that he doesn’t blame Jones, even if it’s just a money matter that he doesn’t want to compete again.
He hopes that even if the situation is resolved, it will end up with an indisputable heavyweight belt around his waist.
“To be honest, you can see John’s perspective,” Aspineol said. “I got it. I got it. It’s about the title for me. I just want the title. That’s it.