UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall admits he was fighting "with one leg and still winning" ahead of freak injury against Curtis Blaydes
UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall has revealed that he has spent the majority of his fighting career to date competing with "one leg."
Aspinall is set to make his UFC return this weekend in the same venue he suffered his knee injury. Back in July 2022, the Manchester native headlined UFC London against Curtis Blaydes but collapsed to the floor just seconds into the fight after throwing a kick. He was later revealed to have torn his MCL and damanged his ACL, which required immediate surgery.
Now, after almost a year of recovery, the British heavyweight is back to prove a point. He will take on the veteran Marcin Tybura this weekend in the English capital.
Ahead of his return, the 30-year-old spoke to The Mirror and was asked about his recovery. During the interview, Tom Aspinall reiterated that he was actually already fighting injured prior to damaging his knee.
According to the Manchester-born fighter, he had been putting off surgery on one of his legs because he had gone to 5-0 in his UFC career. He said:
"I was literally doing it all with one leg, that's why I feel so confident moving forward. The close people around me like my dad know that I was doing a lot of wrong stuff before with one leg and still winning. I feel very confident and happy moving forward, I feel like everyone is going to see how good I can be now."
Michael Bisping recalls Tom Aspinall's injury against Curtis Blaydes
British fight fans were left heartbroken in 2022 when Tom Aspinall and Curtis Blaydes' main event clash was cut short. The 30-year-old collapsed to the floor after landing a kick against the American.
The bout was ruled as a TKO win for Blaydes, which handed Aspinall the first loss of his UFC career. On commentary that night was Michael Bisping, who was tasked with interviewing 'Razor' following the anti-climactic result.
Reflecting on the moment that he entered the octagon to speak to Blaydes, Bisping recently recalled what he felt seeing Tom Aspinall writhing in pain on the floor:
"When I walked in the octagon to interview Curtis Blaydes... I'll never forget walking in, and I'm friends with Tom, and he's a big man, laid on the floor. And I'm walking past him, lad is looking down and he's howling in agony, almost bawling his eyes out. Just in pure agony."
"I'll never forget walking into the Octagon and seeing Tom laid on the floor, howling in agony, almost bawling his eyes out."
It's been a year in the making for Tom Aspinall and his return to UFC.
@bisping remembers his injury at UFC London last year. pic.twitter.com/wHPjDNboQF