Tom Aspinall wishes he could have been active over the past year, but despite his frustrations, there have been some positive outcomes.
Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) hasn’t competed since recording a rare interim title defense last July. He was waiting for a title unification bout against Jon Jones that would never come. Instead, Aspinall was recently elevated to undisputed champion without having to step into the octagon when Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) recently announced his retirement.
“To be honest, I would have rather fought for it, of course,” Aspinall told ESPN MMA. “I did defend the interim, though, which is a weird thing as well. To be honest, I always saw myself as the champion anyway. I think the whole Jon Jones thing was a bit weird. Everybody can see that was a bit of a strange situation. Luckily, now that is in the past, and we can move on, which is good.”
The announcement of Aspinall’s upgrade to undisputed came unexpectedly. UFC CEO Dana White relayed the news during a post-fight news conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, after a reporter asked about Jones accepting a title unification fight. There was no title presentation to Aspinall. No special press conference. It was just a disappointed UFC boss telling the world that Jones walked away from the sport to Aspinall’s benefit.
The absence of pomp and circumstance didn’t bother Aspinall. Ultimately, he now has what he wants. Fighting Jones would have been a bonus, but for Aspinall, it was always about the title more than anything.
“I would have liked to fight for it,” Aspinall stated. “The other stuff, it’s not really important to me. Like, in a year’s time, people are just gonna forget, and I’m just gonna be known as the champion anyway, so it doesn’t really matter. I’ve said it a million times, but I just like fighting people. That’s what I really enjoy. Above everything else – titles, money, fame, all the rest of it. I just like the actual act of training for a fight, the build up to it, fighting people, putting your skills to the test – I love all that stuff like I’m a proper MMA nerd.
“… I’ve said it a million times: I was never chasing Jon, I was chasing the heavyweight title. The face – I mean, don’t get me wrong, Jon Jones would have been an amazing scalp to have on my record. But the opponent, the guy standing across from me, never has mattered. Never will matter. What was important to me was being the best in the world. The other stuff was pretty irrelevant. As I said, it would have been a great scalp. It would have propelled me more than any other fight, but a fight’s a fight. I’m not too bothered.”
Since last July, Aspinall has been on the grind, preparing for a fight that could have come at any time. However, since a fight against Jones was uncertain, Aspinall focused on overall improvements rather than strategizing for a specific opponent. Aspinall found the positives where he could, even though he lost over a year waiting on the sidelines.
“You can look at it from both sides; I’ve improved a lot in a year,” Aspinall said. “Because I was always uncertain of when I’m going to fight, I stayed locked in for like a full year, which is something that I’ve never really done before. It’s always been like train, fight, time off, train, fight. Whereas this time I’ve actually stayed consistent with my training and stuff – stayed consistent with the lifestyle, and I think I’ve made like massive improvements, which, that is actually one of the positives to not fighting regular. … I’m much better than I was last year.”
An improved Aspinall is a scary thought for the rest of the division. Aspinall has never seen a Round 3 in his professional career. In the UFC, he’s only been to a Round 2 once. He’s bulldozed everyone he faced, but he’s eager to build upon what he’s done, and knows he has quite a bit of work to do to stack up to the biggest names in the sport’s history.
“As far as legacy-wise, to compare to a guy like Jon Jones, GSP, Anderson Silva, and stuff like that – I’m miles away from them,” Aspinall said. “I’m not thinking about that right now. I’m just thinking about the next fight.”
UFC,Tom,Aspinall,Overall,Neutral,Martial,Arts,Sports,News,UFC,Tom Aspinall,Overall Neutral,Martial Arts,Sports News
