Tom Aspinall is set for the biggest fight of his career at UFC 295 when he meets Sergei Pavlovich for the interim heavyweight title. The bout was put together after Jon Jones bowed out of a planned title defense with an injury vs. Stipe Miocic.
UFC 295: Tom Aspinall On Skills, Fighting For Interim Heavyweight Title
Tom Aspinall will step into the Octagon inside Madison Square Garden at UFC 295 for the biggest fight of his career.
And he feels ready.
Aspinall will meet Sergei Pavlovich for the interim UFC heavyweight championship on Saturday, November 11. The main card airs live on ESPN+ pay-per-view with Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira meeting for the vacant light heavyweight title.
The 30-year-old from England recently talked with Casino Canada about the upcoming fight.
“Someone is definitely going to get finished at some point,” Tom Aspinall said. “I don’t think you can look at my opponent and say, ‘right, this is what he does wrong’ because realistically, especially in his last few fights, he has not done anything wrong, and his fights have been flawless.
“I just need to be perfecting what I do well. The biggest advantage I have over him is that he has no fought anyone who fights like me – nobody in the UFC has.
“I’m completely unique for a heavyweight. That’s the biggest advantage I have over him. I can’t look at his gameplan, or at what he does wrong because at this point, he does everything well.
“I’ve not seen any holes in his game, I just have to be better than him. I must outthink him and not have a brawl with him as he is really dangerous, so I need to be on my A game.”
Following a loss in his home country of England in 2022 to Curtis Blaydes after he suffered a knee injury, Aspinall returned in July and finished Marcin Tybura to improve to 13-3 overall. He has gone 6-1 with the UFC, scoring four “Performance of the Night” bonuses.
Along with besting Tybura, Tom Aspinall also holds wins over Alexander Volkov, Sergey Spivak, former champion Andrei Arlovski, Alan Baudot and Jake Collier.
All six of those have been finishes, with five coming in the first round.
“It’s a massive fight in the heavyweight division. It’s a fight that MMA and the UFC in particular, just does better than all of the other sports, especially when you compare it to boxing,” Aspinall said. “Big fights get made really quick, especially this one, it got made on two weeks’ notice. You have two of the most dangerous guys in the UFC with the most finishes, it’s going to be exciting, and I can’t wait for it.”
Tom Aspinall Calls Jon Jones ‘Absolute Dream Fight’
With a win, it is possible Aspinall could be paired with Jon Jones for the title next year. Jones is likely to defend vs. Stipe Miocic, which was postponed, and a win by him could lead to a unification match.
“Dana White hasn’t mentioned it but that’s what I’m planning towards. It’s an absolute dream fight for me if I can fight Jon Jones before he retires,” Aspinall said. “But right now, I’m focused on my next fight, I’m not thinking about the politics of it all.
“Jon Jones is an absolute freak athlete but that goes without saying with what he has achieved in his career. It’s just whether he still wants it but I don’t know Jon personally. He’s got a big injury, and they are saying it’s going to take one year to come back before he is even training.
“Will he want to start again at 40 years old? I don’t know where he is mentally about coming back. He wanted the Stipe fight of course but I want Jon Jones. He is one of my heroes and I’d love an opportunity to fight him before he retires.”
