Tom Aspinall made a dream come true at UFC 295 this past weekend (Nov. 11, 2023).
A mere two weeks’ notice for Britain’s favorite fighting son was nothing as Aspinall entered his interim Heavyweight title tilt with Sergei Pavlovich and came out only 69 seconds later as the new champion. Surviving one big shot from his Russian foe, Aspinall connected with a big combo of his own to score the knockout win (watch highlights).
The title fight came together late after the undisputed champion, Jon Jones, suffered a torn pectoral muscle in training, canceling his match up with Stipe Miocic. Outside UFC, former champion, Francis Ngannou, is also still arguably the best Heavyweight in mixed martial arts (MMA), but hasn’t fought since January 2022. After Aspinall halted the momentum of the bruising Pavlovich, he feels he’s undeniable as the division’s top dog.
The MMA Hour. “That’s straight-up facts. I’m not trying to blow my own trumpet or anything. Jon Jones is inactive right now, Francis Ngannou is inactive right now in MMA.
“As it stands right now on today’s date in 2023, I am the No. 1 MMA athlete at Heavyweight in the world,” he concluded.
Outside of his freak 15-second technical knockout loss to Curtis Blaydes where he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in July 2022 (watch highlights), Aspinall (14-3) has been flawless in his last 10 fights (seven in UFC). The Brit hopes to unify the titles opposite Jones in his next time out, targeting a July 2024 return date, but UFC CEO, Dana White, remained adamant in the UFC 295 post-fight press conference that Jones vs. Miocic will be rebooked as soon as possible.
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