Is Tom being smart or is Tom a d**n fool? - Chael Sonnen questions whether Tom Aspinall avoiding an interim title fight is the right choice
Chael Sonnen is not convinced of Tom Aspinall's intentions of not fighting for the UFC interim heavyweight title.
Aspinall is currently on a nine-fight win streak with five of those victories coming inside the octagon. In his last outing at UFC London, the Englishman submitted Alexander Volkov via an armbar in the very first round.
Due to this victory, he is now No.6 in the UFC heavyweight rankings. Despite being considered a potential challenger for the UFC interim heavyweight title, the highly touted heavyweight is focused on different goals in his career.
This has caused Chael Sonnen to question Aspinall's decision. On a recent episode of his Bad Guy Inc podcast, 'The American Gangster' elaborated on this further:
“Tom’s in a very interesting spot. He’s also not going to qualify for a world title fight. So where he should go now? I like it all, I’ve laid out my case for why I like it all. I will also begrudge one point, which is - Is Tom being smart, which I’m giving him credit for, or is Tom a d**n fool?”
Tom Aspinall has said that he’s not interested in chasing the interim heavyweight title. Instead, he wants to gain more experience and focus on being the UK’s favorite fighter. He thinks that a bout against Tai Tuivasa would be something unbelievable and should take place in Britain.
Sonnen stated that while Aspinall is asking fans for directions, he should also realize that there will be no easy fights for him even if they're against lower-ranked heavyweights:
“So, Tom’s in a precarious spot. He’s clearly asking you guys or he’s looking for another heavyweight to say his name. Any heavyweight says I want to fight Tom Aspinall, Tom is going to point his guns in that direction. There’s a very small part of me that is questioning, though, is Tom being sincere? Is Tom too young and/or too naive to not know that they’re all the hardest fights?”
Watch Chael Sonnen give his thoughts on Tom Aspinall below:
Tom Aspinall wants to run through everybody
Even after his impressive showing in London, Tom Aspinall is keeping his feet firmly on the ground. In a recent video uploaded to Michael Bisping's YouTube channel, Aspinall talked about his perspective on the UFC interim heavyweight title situation. The Brit heavyweight stated that in his mind, he hasn't done anything that should grant him a title shot:
“To be honest, I don’t think I’m deserving of a title yet, to be honest with you Mike [Bisping]. I don’t think that I’ve done anything that warrants that, do you know what I mean? I want everyone to look at me and be like, this guy is gonna be a f*****g champion and beat everybody.”
Aspinall also admitted that he sees himself as a champion and that he’s not really concerned about how it will happen or in what order things will play out. He has a vision and simply doesn’t concern himself with such details, as he believes everything will work itself out one way or another.
You can watch the entire episode below: