"Count me in" - Tom Aspinall ready to welcome former light heavyweight champ in latter's "unexpected" move to heavyweight
Tom Aspinall has taken the UFC heavyweight division by storm. At UFC London last month, the Englishman made his highly anticipated return to the octagon. He went up against Marcin Tybura and dispatched the Polish heavyweight, securing a TKO victory in under a minute into the opening round.
Following his victory, Aspinall detailed his ambition to vie for the title, expressing his desire to head to France to sit cage-side at UFC Paris. He hopes to beat the winner of the Ciryl Gane-Sergey Spivak bout, then challenge UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones for the title.
However, it appears that Tom Aspinall is interested in facing former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz on his path to the UFC gold. In a recent interview with Sportsnaut, Blachowicz discussed the possibility of moving to the heavyweight division:
"Of course. Why not? It sounds good. You opened something in my mind, so yea, we’re going to ask UFC about the opportunity of heavyweight. It’s something I have to think about."
He added:
"I need to watch them carefully, because when I watch the heavyweights I just watch for the fight. I don’t watch to analyze them. But [Tom] Aspinall did a great job in his last fight. That would be something very good for me for the first fight stop in heavyweight.”
Check out Blachowicz's comments below (from 9:10):
In response to the reports regarding Jan Blachowicz's potential move to the 265-pound category, Tom Aspinall expressed his approval and openness to the idea:
"That was unexpected… but, count me in 🤝"
Tom Aspinall has agreed to assist Tyson Fury in his preparations for his bout against Francis Ngannou
Tom Aspinall was questioned about the Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou bout during his appearance on the Believe You Me podcast, hosted by Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith.
Aspinall discussed his perspective on choosing a side for the upcoming mega-fight:
"Well I'm actually going to help Tyson. Well, I have no loyalties to Francis Ngannou. I don't know him, that's the problem. I've actually never met him, I'm not joking. I think Ngannou has a puncher's chance, obviously. He's one of the hardest punchers in combat sports. But, I think that's all he's got, to be honest."
He added:
"I'm not saying, well if Francis Ngannou knocks out Tyson Fury, I wouldn't be surprised. I'm not saying it can't happen. It definitely can happen. But, if we're talking about skillsets, Fury is like universes ahead of him in terms of skillset."
Check out Aspinall's comments below (from 17:50):