As of July 29, 2024, Tom Aspinall’s total MMA career fight time is under 41 minutes across 18 professional fights. He’s been knocking out and choking out all his opponents within the first round. While that makes him one scary fighter to be reckoned with, UFC veteran Chael Sonnen believes it is a worrying trend.
The former middleweight contender doesn’t “love” the idea that Aspinall has never been tested before, especially since he has been wanting to fight undisputed heavyweight champion, Jon Jones.
“I got one concern with Tom (Aspinall) and I’m one of Tom’s biggest advocates but I do have a concern. In his UFC career he has only left the first round once.
Aspinall has been so dominant that he has never been challenged to a point where his nerves have been tested. As a matter of fact, no one has yet been able to leave a mark on his face. But that comes with its own set of consequences.
“I don’t love that a guy hasn’t had to breathe 15 minutes in, I don’t love that a guy hasn’t had his nose put on the other side of his face.”
View this post on Instagram
‘The Bad Guy’ cited the examples of Jon Jones and Alex Pereira both of whom have been in real battles, so they know what it takes to get into the championships.
At some point in the next few months, if Jones doesn’t retire after the Stipe Miocic fight, it is safe to assume that there’s a fight to be made between the Brit and him with the undisputed title on the line. Jones might be on the older side of things now but he’s an unreal talent, just like Aspinall.
And when he really turns up, he can make people like Daniel Cormier look helpless. Is Aspinall prepared for that level of endurance? During the first Alexander Gustaffson fight, the Swede took the fight to ‘Bones’ for 3 rounds. He seemed to be winning, only for the champion to systematically dismantle him in the next two.
Aspinall doesn’t have experience. But that is going to stop the cheeky Englishman from causing some trouble at UFC 309.
Aspinall plans to stir up the pot
With the UFC matchmakers giving Jones’s long sought-after legacy fight with Stipe Miocic, Aspinall has been left to being a backup fighter.
What’s funny is there’s a good chance that if either Stipe or Jones get hurt, neither would even want to take on the Brit with that short notice.
So, what does Aspinall do? He plans on showing up at MSG regardless and doing some media, causing a few scenes, and getting into the face of whoever wins that title on the night.
“I’m really interested in how both guys look in the fight, that’s really interesting for me…I want to go up close and see what these guys look like in live action.
He also plans on taking out a notepad and writing down a few of his observations about his next potential opponent.
How are they moving? What are they doing? You can see little differences in real life [more] than you can on the TV. I’m looking forward to that!”
Now, that does sound like the confidence of a man who’s only ever had to go past the first round once!
