Tom Aspinall is on the way back.
As one of, if not the best, rising stars in the heavyweight division, Aspinall suffered an unfortunate 15-second loss in his last fight with Curtis Blades in July 2022, tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Surgically repaired and ready to return, Aspinall, 30, will headline UFC London on July 22, 2023, against Marcin Tybura.
The pairing came as somewhat of a surprise to many due to Aspinall’s long eight-fight unbeaten streak (five in the UFC, all upon completion) prior to his injury against Blaydes. Aspinall is No. 5 in the UFC’s heavyweight rankings, contrasting with Tybura’s No. 10 position. In the end, the Briton wants to highlight that the final is not always the first.
“I didn’t have much of a choice, to be honest,” said Aspinall. Mac Live. “A lot of people wonder, ‘Why are you fighting him?'” I’m like, well, first of all, people act like I’m a lot better than him. The guy is literally a top 10 toughest guy in the world. The guy is in the top 10 in the world, that’s good, that’s really good. Also, he’s had more UFC fights. Three times me so let’s not act like he’s some bum because he’s not.
“The reason I fight him is because — there are a lot of people in the UFC who love to give interviews and say, ‘I’ll fight anyone, I’m a savage, I’m a gangster, and all that,’” he continued. Reality do not accept to fight. There’s a lot of that going on. Not just in my division, across multiple weight divisions. It happened, and well, a lot of the top 10 spots were already booked, so I had to fight in the rankings a little bit, which is fine for me.”
Aspinall feels energized after the vacation, which helped him understand how deep his love for mixed martial arts (MMA) runs. A win over Tybura might not be enough to secure the championship title, but Aspinall is just looking to get his feet wet again and remind everyone what he’s capable of.
“I feel like I’ve got a chip on my shoulder,” Aspinall said. “I just want to prove to everyone and to myself that I’m a better king than Peter Griffin with his knee (laughs).”