In an exclusive interview with Safest Casino Sites, UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall outlined how he believes Stipe Miocic will knock out Jon Jones at UFC 309. The Brit also spoke on potentially fighting Francis Ngannou and what he plans to do once he achieves everything he wants to in the UFC.
Key stories in the interview include:
- Why Stipe Miocic can knock Jon Jones out cold at UFC 309
- Failed drugs tests means Jon Jones could never be the GOAT
- Aspinall welcomes fight with ‘absolute freak’ Francis Ngannou
- Excited for WWE career once his MMA goals are achieved
- GSP, Fedor, Jon Jones and Jose Aldo earn spots UFC Mount Rushmore
- Tips ‘incredible’ Payton Talbott to blow up in UFC – ‘He’s the real deal’
- ‘Bad Idea’ – Max Holloway warned against fighting Islam Makhachev
- Khamzat Chimaev tipped for title shot after win over Robert Whittaker
Q: How is training going?
Tom Aspinall: “Yeah I’m doing good mate. I’m doing alright, just finished another session. I’m just doing my job mate, doing my routine, sticking to my routine and doing what I need to do. I’ve had a million fights now at this point, I know what I’m doing. I know how to prepare for a fight. Even though I’ve not got a fight confirmed right now, I am staying fit and staying ready just in case.”
Q: If you were in Stipe Miocic’s corner in a few weekends time, what strategy would you be going in there with if you were him? Obviously you’re not but what do you think you’d be thinking?
Tom Aspinall: “I’d be looking for the knockout against Jon Jones is what I’d be looking for with him. I’d be trying to push him back and use his size. It’s not even like he can use the experience. They’re both as experienced as one another, but I’d just be using my size on him, trying to push him back and knock him out. I think that Stipe Miocic has got big knockout power in comparison to Jon Jones. So I think he can knock him out.”
Q: You were recently spotted at a WWE event in Manchester, would you want to compete in that industry one day?
Tom Aspinall: “Absolutely, mate. That’s what I want to do in my post-fighting career. I’ve got my show on TNT Sports now, so I like the punditry side as well. I’m very passionate about MMA, it’s been my life for as long as I can remember. I like to think that I know more about MMA than most and I can offer some kind of knowledge and breakdown to people who don’t understand MMA as well as I do. I think I’ve definitely got that to offer and I think I do that well, it’s something I enjoy and something that I want to continue to do. But WWE is something new and exciting for me as well. I really enjoyed it, it’s a buzz. It’s another way to get out there in front of an audience and do something not quite as dangerous, but still get the thrill. I don’t know, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. I’ve still got a lot that I want to do in my MMA career. I’m not saying that I want to hang up the gloves just yet, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy it. I enjoyed the whole thing.”
Q: Does Jon Jones have any weaknesses? What are they?
Tom Aspinall: “To be honest, with guys like Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, it’s very, very difficult to look at them and technically pick apart what they do wrong. It’s very difficult. Jon Jones is one of the best to ever do it and so is Stipe. It’s difficult, even for a guy like me who works an analyst job now and does this as a kind of second career, to look at these guys and be like, ‘yeah, this is what they do wrong technically.’ Ultimately, they don’t do a lot wrong. My key to winning against, not just these guys, but anybody, is I need to punch them as hard as I can in the face. It’s well proven that if I hit somebody clean, they’re going over. I’ve never hit somebody clean in my life and they’ve not gone over. That’s my key to victory at all times.”
Q: You have the shortest average fight time in UFC history at 2:02 per fight. How prepared do you feel if a fight goes deep into the 4th or 5th round?
Tom Aspinall: “If I had the choice, I would knock everyone out in the first minute but that’s not what I look to do at all. I’ve trained for, I believe, six main event fights now. So I’ve trained for six, five round fights, 25 minutes. And I absolutely put the graft in at the gym every single time. I’m prepared. On the contrary to what casual fans might think, I don’t go in there thinking that I’m going to knock everybody out in the first minute. That’s not what I do. Each and every time, I’m prepared for a five round war. But if I can take someone out in the first minute, I absolutely will and I think you’d be silly to do otherwise.”
Q: Dana has said time & time again Jon Jones is the GOAT of MMA, if he retires before fighting you, can he really be called the GOAT?
Tom Aspinall: “I don’t know, there’s always gonna be that guy though, isn’t there, who you didn’t fight and you retired because of? I think that he wouldn’t be the GOAT for other reasons. Failed drug tests etc, that’s just my opinion on it.”
Q: You reckon you will fight the winner of Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov who face off at UFC 310. Who would you bet on winning that fight?
Tom Aspinall: “I think that’s a very interesting fight between those two guys. They’ve already fought before, Gane won but it was a stinker though. They had a terrible fight, not a lot of people remember it. It was a really bad, boring fight. I’ve already fought Volkov. It was a relatively easy fight on my part, submitting him in the first round. I think he’s won four fights since and he’s looked great whereas Ciryl Gane has been relatively inactive and has taken a couple of losses on the way since he fought Volkov the first time. I think it’s a 50-50 fight again, it was a really close one the first time, like I say, terrible fight as a viewer. But I wouldn’t be surprised either way. I think it’s a really close fight and I welcome the winner early next year if we can do that.”
Q: Who is your MMA/UFC Mount Rushmore?
Tom Aspinall: “I personally think the best of all time is GSP (Georges St-Pierre). I think Fedor (Emlianenko) has got to be up there. I think it’d be silly not to put Jon Jones up there as well. He’s definitely one of the best to ever do it and Jose Aldo is definitely one of the best as well. I think a lot of people look past him because in the late years, people start taking losses and you almost forget how good they were when they were in their prime. Jose Aldo is definitely one of my favorites of all time. Do you think he’s gone on a little bit too long? It’s a personal choice isn’t it? So who am I to say that a legend like Jose Aldo has gone on too long?”
Q: Francis Ngannou was back in action recently. You said should you ever meet him, you’d have the technical edge over him. Can you expand on that a bit?
Tom Aspinall: “I think it’s a good fight. I just think I’m technically better than him. That doesn’t always mean that you win the fight though, just because you’re technically better than someone. I think he’s a problem for anybody. He’s a big, strong guy, absolute freak in terms of power, in terms of physicality and stuff like that and obviously an absolute mental giant as well. What he’s gone through in his personal life is incredible. I’m incredibly inspired by Francis Ngannou and his story. But I would definitely welcome the fight. But do I think it’s gonna happen now with these different federations and that? No, probably not. But it’s not something that I would shy away from if I got the opportunity.”
Q: We saw him (Ngannou) obviously cross over into boxing. You had a professional boxing match back in 2017. Is that anything you’ve ever thought about? Maybe a crossover bout like he had with AJ? Is there anyone in boxing that you’d fancy yourself up against?
Tom Aspinall: “Yeah, I mean before it’s all said and done, I would like to give it a whirl, but right now I’m not really focused on that. Similar to the WWE stuff and it’s something that I could potentially go into after my fighting career is over. But as far as boxing, WWE, acting is potentially something that I’d like to do as well. But that’s all secondary to what I’m doing at the moment. Right now I’m focused on becoming the undisputed champion of the world and getting the biggest fights possible.”
Q: In terms of young fighters coming through the ranks, is there anyone that you’ve got your eye on that you think is going to be huge in the next a couple of years?
Tom Aspinall: “It’s difficult to say really. I only keep up with the heavyweights really, keep an eye on the heavyweights because obviously it’s my division. But there’s a guy, I believe he’s a featherweight, maybe a bantamweight called Payton Talbott. I’ve seen him, he looks incredible. I don’t know him personally at all, never met him or anything like that, so I’m not biased on his side, but I’ve seen him a couple of times in the UFC and he looks like the real deal, relatively untested at this point, he’s only just got into the UFC. I don’t think he’s fought anyone ranked or anything like that, but he looks really good from what I’ve seen. One to watch.”
Q: Is there any kind of different training regime as a backup fighter as opposed to he training you’ve had for your main events?
Tom Aspinall: “Well, the only difference is usually I’m working to a game plan in training because obviously I’ve got in mind my opponent who I’m going to fight and what their style brings to the table. Whereas right now I can’t really train for anybody because I don’t know who I’m fighting and I don’t know if I’m fighting, but all I’m focusing on is just getting myself as physically ready as possible. Getting myself fit, basically getting myself in fighting shape. As far as tactics and stuff, and I’m a big tactics guy, there isn’t any to be honest (different training regimes) I’m just focusing on me and my game as opposed to one of the other guys who I could potentially fight.”
Q: How’s the body feeling overall in terms of strength, fitness? Any niggles, any injuries or are you feeling good?
Tom Aspinall: “I mean, I’ve always got niggles. My life of a martial artist. It’s never going to go, Hey, I’ve been training since I was eight years old. I’m 31. So yeah, there’s always going to be niggles there. And I train with heavyweights, so there’s some big boys throwing leather on a regular basis, but nothing serious. Normal. And I’m in great shape, so I’m ready to fight if they need me to.”
Q: Obviously we saw your knee injury back in 2022. You’ve come back stronger, fitter. How’s it feeling now? Fully healed?
Tom Aspinall: “Honestly, I don’t even think about it anymore. It’s long gone, I had a great surgery, great surgeon, great physio, great rehabilitation process that I spent a year on religiously, like rebuilding my whole leg. So honestly, I don’t even think about it anymore.”
Q: The evolution of your tattoos is quite interesting over the past four or five years. Is that kind of still going on or are you kind of leaving that for now? What’s the plan?
Tom Aspinall: “I don’t know if that’ll ever stop, mate. Just keeping it going. I’ve got a few planned. I’m going to New York obviously soon for this backup thing. But I didn’t want to get tattooed right now because I like training twice a day. But when I get back from New York, I’ve got a couple of big tattoos booked in. Any plans to go up the neck? I’m getting my neck done when I come back from New York.”
Q: Khamzat Chimaev made light work of Robert Whittaker at the weekend, do you think he can go on a run in the UFC now?
Tom Aspinall: “Yeah, I think he’s very good. I absolutely think he can go on a run after beating Robert Whittaker. Robert Whittaker’s a massive name. He’s massive and he’s done everything there is to do in the sport. It’s a humongous win and he will probably get a title shot now. I would imagine or get right up there anyway.”
Q: I think Khamzat declared himself the best wrestler in the UFC, which is quite a big claim to make. Do you think he’s got a point there? Or do you think there’s people that are better down grappling than him?
Tom Aspinall: “This is MMA, not wrestling. So it doesn’t really matter. Definitely an advantage, but if you’re having a wrestling match, but they’re having an MMA fight as far as I’m aware. There’s more there to it than just wrestling.”
Q: Max Holloway says he’s open to fighting Islam (Makhachev) at lightweight at some point. Do you think that’s a good move for Max?
Tom Aspinall: “He’s a problem, that guy (Makhachev). That guy is a serious problem. In my opinion, Max always looks better at lightweight anyway. The fight at the weekend was obviously contested at featherweight. I think that’s a bad idea in all honesty. I think Islam’s just a massive problem for Max Holloway.”
Q: UFC 309, Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler. Charles Oliveira’s the favourite. Do you think that the bookies have got that one right?
Tom Aspinall: “Absolutely. You never know in MMA, you absolutely never know. But, I would say if I had to bet, my money would definitely be on Charles Oliveira for the win, definitely. I just think he’s better. I think they fought before and Oliveira beat him. I think Oliveira is better than him, either way.”
