5 potential opponents for Tom Aspinall after UFC London victory
Tom Aspinall cemented himself as one of the best heavyweights in the world with his convincing victory over Alexander Volkov last weekend. He secured the win in convincing fashion, securing a first-round submission in front of his home fans in England.
The submission win was further evidence of how varied Aspinall's offense can be. The English fighter has excellent striking but is also a lifelong BJJ practitioner and has now secured two submission wins in his last three fights. Few have been able to stop him thus far as he has finished all 5 of his UFC opponents thus far.
Tom Aspinall said no one outside of the Top 10 could give him the challenge he needed. Wellllllll, that was the No. 6 in the division. And that was a beatdown. Wow.
It will now be interesting to see where Tom Aspinall goes from here. In terms of active fighters, only Tai Tuivasa appears to have more momentum, but that doesn't tell the entire story. Francis Ngannou, Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic are all unknown factors at the moment, making it difficult to predict which fights will be next.
Here are five potential opponents for Tom Aspinall after his UFC London victory:
#5. Tom Aspinall vs. Derrick Lewis
In all likelihood, Tom Aspinall will be able to secure a fight against a higher-ranked contender than no. 5 Derrick Lewis. With that being said, you can never quite tell where the chips will fall in the UFC and it doesn't seem unthinkable that we end up getting this fight.
Given the lack of clarity at the top of the heavyweight division at the moment, you get the sense that it might take some time to get each fighter matched up. Aspinall is unlikely to fight for the belt next time out, so he may very well settle for a high-profile opponent that would keep him active in the octagon.
Tom Aspinall with the straight arm lock to tap out Alexander Volkov.
Can't be understated how impressive that really is considering Volkov has only been finished one other time in the UFC and that was a third-round stunner from Derrick Lewis
#UFCLondon
In particular, if the UFC does return to London this year as Dana White indicated, you have to think Aspinall would want to be involved. A fight with Lewis would be a suitable match-up to facilitate that. A win would only increase the English fighter's momentum and give the fans in his home country another treat.