Tag: Tom Aspinall

MMA Junkie’s 2023 Comeback Fighter of the Year: Tom Aspinall

What a rebound 2023 was for UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, who battled back from adversity to claim gold.

[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] entered 2023 in the midst of uncertainty and recovery and left with UFC gold.

The most recent in-cage memory for fight fans as they flipped the calendar over from 2022 was Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) rolling around on the ground, holding his knee after an errant step blew out his MCL and meniscus, and damaged his ACL against Curtis Blaydes.

It took Aspinall 12 months to step back into the cage. When it came time to make his return in July, he did so in the same arena as the accident – one day and one year to the date of his injury.

Aspinall quickly shook away the ghost of the past performance as he quickly smashed Marcin Tybura with punches and finished the fight 73 seconds after it started.

The win propelled Aspinall into contention, and realigned him on his upward trajectory. In November, Aspinall was a beneficiary of Jon Jones’ misfortune when he stepped into an interim heavyweight title fight on just a few weeks’ notice.

With the elements seemingly working against him at UFC 295, Aspinall toppled Sergei Pavlovich in 69 seconds – the second quickest finish of his promotional tenure. He now enters 2024 with a gold belt and a potential unification bout down the line.

That’s why Tom Aspinall is MMA Junkie’s 2023 Comeback Fighter of the Year.

MMA Junkie’s 2023 Knockout of the Year: Israel Adesanya def. Alex Pereira

Here are the top four honorable mentions and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Knockout of the Year” award for 2023.

With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie takes a look at the best knockouts from January to December. Here are the top five and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Knockout of the Year” award for 2023.

At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice for “Knockout of the Year.”

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Honorable mentions

Tom Aspinall down to defend interim UFC title against Curtis Blaydes vs. Jailton Almeida winner

Tom Aspinall is warm the idea of defending his interim UFC heavyweight title in 2024, and he has a potential opponent in mind.

[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] is warm the idea of defending his interim UFC heavyweight title in 2024, and he has a potential opponent in mind.

Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) is less than two months removed from winning interim gold with a 69-second knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 in New York. Despite the achievement, though, Aspinall won’t be next to fight for the undisputed belt.

That distinction will go to Stipe Miocic, who is expected to challenge current titleholder Jon Jones once “Bones” returns from injury. Moreover, it’s unknown if one or both of Jones and Miocic will retire after the fight, leaving some uncertainty around Aspinall’s next move.

Aspinall has expressed frustration as he sits on the sidelines waiting for the situation to play out, but he’s made it clear a long break from competition is not of interest. He wants to fight sooner than later, and he sees the winner of the matchup between [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) and [autotag]Jailton Almeida[/autotag] (19-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) at UFC 299 on March 9 in Miami as a fitting foe (via X):

Aspinall, No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie heavyweight rankings, has a history with No. 7-ranked Blaydes. The pair fought at UFC Fight Night 208 in July 2022, with the main event bout ending in just 15 seconds after Aspinall went down with a knee injury that ultimately required surgery and forced him out of competition for a year.

A rematch would certainly be logical if Blaydes wins, but he’ll have to first get past No. 12-ranked Almeida, who was MMA Junkie’s 2023 Breakout Fighter of the Year after picking up victories over Derrick Lewis, Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Shamil Abdurakhimov.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.

Changing of the guard: Every new UFC champion crowned in 2023

Take a look at the names and numbers surrounding the new UFC champions crowned in 2023.

UFC title fights throughout 2023 were filled with dramatic moments, exciting finishes and huge upsets.

Titles changed hands often over the past 12 months, creating a brand new landscape for the majority of the divisions heading into the new year.

Take a look at the names and numbers of the new champions (in order of lightest to heaviest weight class) who enter 2024 with UFC gold around their waist:

Frustrated UFC interim champ Tom Aspinall says next fight has to be for undisputed title

“All this legacy fight sh*t, I don’t understand how that can happen,” Tom Aspinall says of Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic.

[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] believes the current state of the UFC heavyweight division resembles boxing.

Interim champion Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) is eager to unify his belt with undisputed champ [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag], but with UFC CEO Dana White insisting on rebooking Jones vs. Stipe Miocic, Aspinall won’t get his wish.

With Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) currently sidelined because of a torn pectoral muscle, Aspinall will have to wait a while before getting to unify the belts, and that frustrates him. He just wants the opportunity to prove he’s the best.

“I absolutely love the sport of MMA, UFC in particular,” Aspinall said on the “True Geordie” podcast. “I’m so proud to be fighting for the best MMA organization in the world. What that represents for me is the best fighting the best. And I’m a massive boxing fan, I absolutely love the sport of boxing, (but) I f*cking can’t stand the boxing model. There should not be five, six different world champions at one weight. … Let’s find out who the f*cking guy is. That’s what I want to find out. There’s two champions right now in the UFC heavyweight division. That’s not right.

“You can sugarcoat it all you want, these legacy fights and whatever. My next fight has to be for the undisputed title. Why would they do otherwise. Let’s f*cking find out who the guy is, simple as that. All this legacy fight sh*t, I don’t understand how that can happen. Yeah, let them have a legacy fight, but why for the undisputed title? Why are you making the rest of us wait? I understand it’s Jon Jones. There’s no person walking this earth who is a bigger Jon Jones fan than me, but this isn’t boxing. This isn’t guys avoiding each other. This isn’t the No. 1 guy fighting the No. 10 guy. Let’s find out who the f*cking guy is, because I believe it’s me.”

White said Aspinall can defend his interim title if he’s open to it. But Aspinall isn’t even addressing that possibility and can’t fathom the current title picture.

“It’s very odd, and obviously I don’t want to sit here slagging off my bosses, but it’s not right,” Aspinall said. “They can’t be two f*cking heavyweight champions. It can’t be. This isn’t boxing. There’s one guy, one face, one name, and let’s find out who that is.”

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Dana White ‘absolutely’ open to Tom Aspinall defending UFC interim title – but not vs. Stipe Miocic

Dana White has no issues keeping Tom Aspinall busy but insists that Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic must happen.

UFC CEO [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] has no issues keeping [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] busy, but he insists that [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] must happen.

Heavyweight champion Jones was forced to withdraw from his first title defense vs. Miocic at UFC 295 due to injury. The promotion replaced that matchup with an interim title fight between Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich, which Aspinall won by first-round knockout.

Up next, Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) hopes to unify his belt with undisputed champ Jones or fight Miocic while Jones recovers, but White shot down both suggestions. He is, however, open to Aspinall defending the interim title in the meantime.

“Aspinall could possibly fight again,” White told TNT Sports. “I don’t know. We’ll see how this plays out going into the next year, but Jones and Stipe, the fight, they both deserve it. Jon Jones got injured. There’s nothing he can do about it. We’ll see what happens in 2024. If Aspinall wants to fight before that fight happens, why not? Why not let him defend it.”

White argues that Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) vs. Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) makes the most sense for both fighters.

“If you look at what Stipe has accomplished in this sport, what he’s done, where he’s at in his career, he wants the Jon Jones fight, and I get it,” White said. “Arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time vs. the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. He wants that fight, it’s a big legacy fight for both guys.”

With White teasing the UFC’s potential return to Aspinall’s hometown of Manchester in 2024, he doubled down on the possibility of Aspinall defending his interim title.

“While Jon Jones is injured, if he wants to defend the title, we’d absolutely do it,” White said.

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Jailton Almeida calls for UFC interim title fight vs. Tom Aspinall, doesn’t think Jon Jones should be stripped

Jailton Almeida says an interim title fight with Tom Aspinall makes sense because it’s for the future of the UFC heavyweight division.

[autotag]Jailton Almeida[/autotag] wants to challenge interim UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] next.

Currently riding a 15-fight winning streak, Almeida (20-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) initially called out Ciryl Gane after his beatdown of former title challenger Derrick Lewis last month. While he still thinks Gane makes sense for him next, the Brazilian contender has shifted his focus to Aspinall.

With undisputed heavyweight champion Jon Jones expected to defend his belt against Stipe Miocic upon his return from injury next year, Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) won’t get to unify his belt any time soon. Almeida suggests they fight each other in the meantime.

“Against Ciryl Gane would be ideal, but Tom Aspinall already spoke to the media or whoever and is already talking about a fight with Jailton,” Almeida told MMA Junkie through an interpreter in an interview facilitated by Stake.com. “So, I think probably the Tom Aspinall fight will come first.”

Aspinall knocked out Sergei Pavlovich in just 69 seconds to claim interim gold, which Almeida was very impressed by. He believes a matchup with Aspinall would represent the future of the division.

“It will be a very good fight because Tom Aspinall is a complete fighter,” Almeida said. “He has really good movement. I see myself as an equal in the sense that it would be a good, fair fight. It would be for the future of the category. It’s going to be the future fight for the title.”

Aspinall called for Jones to be stripped of the heavyweight title, which UFC CEO Dana White dismissed. Almeida also disagrees.

“Jon Jones is still the best in the division,” Almeida said. “I believe Tom Aspinall could eventually get there, but for me, there is no doubt that Jon Jones is still No. 1.”

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‘That’s hilarious’: Jon Jones issues testy response to Tom Aspinall for call to be stripped of UFC title

Jon Jones finds Tom Aspinall’s request for him to be stripped of the UFC heavyweight title belt rather amusing.

It took a little while, but UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] finally has responded to [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag].

Jones, arguably the greatest fighter in MMA history, took to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday night to address Aspinall’s call for the UFC to strip Jones of his title belt, promote him to undisputed champion and have him defend that title against Stipe Miocic while Jones remains out of action because of his injury.

He finds Aspinall’s request “hilarious.”

“I’ve faced the absolute toughest competition this world had to offer for 15 years now,” Jones wrote on X. “During camp for a title defense, I sustained a major injury that required surgery for the first time in my career.

“Now I have newcomers requesting I get my championship stripped. Zero wins over legends, zero title defenses and already thinking you can call the shots to Dana, that’s hilarious. In my 15-year career, I have seen so many guys who are supposed to be the next big thing. There’s ever only been one Jon Jones, never forget that. 🤫”

Jones, who won the vacant UFC heavyweight title this past March by submitting Ciryl Gane at UFC 285, was supposed to return Nov. 11 in the headlining bout of UFC 295. However, two weeks before his title fight against Miocic, Jones was forced to withdraw after tearing his pectoral muscle in training.

In response, the UFC booked an interim title fight between Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich, which Aspinall won by first-round knockout.

Contrary to usual practice, the UFC doesn’t intend to have a unification bout. Instead, the promotion intends to preserve the Jones-Miocic fight, something that Aspinall is not happy with.

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Dana White on Tom Aspinall, stripping Jon Jones, Deiveson Figueiredo’s 135 debut and more

Dana White weighs in on Tom Aspinall, Jon Jones, Deiveson Figueiredo, Clay Guida, Bellator, the PFL and more.

AUSTIN, Texas – [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] spoke to MMA Junkie along with other media following Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 52.

The UFC CEO touched on multiple topics regarding the event, such as [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag]’s bantamweight debut, [autotag]Jalin Turner[/autotag]’s knockout win over Bobby Green, [autotag]Clay Guida[/autotag]’s longevity in the promotion and more.

White also discussed other topics around the sport, like [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag]’s recent comments asking to get the Stipe Miocic fight and for Jon Jones to get stripped of his UFC heavyweight title.

Below, you can find White’s comments from the UFC on ESPN 52 post-fight press conference.

Tom Aspinall on fan backlash for calling UFC to strip Jon Jones from title: ‘I’m just trying to get my dream fight’

Tom Aspinall responds to the fan criticism of his comments, calling for the UFC to strip Jon Jones from the heavyweight title.

It seems like [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] has been feeling the heat on social media after calling for Jon Jones to be stripped of his UFC heavyweight title.

Aspinall, who won the interim title earlier this month, made some bold comments and said Jones should have the title stripped while he recovers from a torn pectoral muscle. He also added that he should be the undisputed champion and defend against Stipe Miocic, as he waits for Jones.

Although many agreed with Aspinall’s comments, others didn’t, and they made sure to let him know.

“You see a lot of online trolls, but mate – I’m just trying to get my dream fight,” Aspinall told Michael Bisping. “Give me a break. I’m trying to fight one of the legends. That’s all.

“I’ll fight everyone. I’ve got another 10 years in this sport before it’s over, and I’m going to fight these other guys. I would love to get a crack at these two guys before they retire just to get it on my resume. I’m not getting beyond myself or anything like that. I just want a crack at the guys I’ve been watching for the last 10 years. I’m a massive fan of the sport and I think it would be brilliant. That’s all. I’m not out there hating on anybody. I respect these guys.”

Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) won the interim belt when he knocked out Sergei Pavlovich in the UFC 295 co-main event. That fight was made on just two weeks’ notice in response to Jones’ training injury, which scrapped his title fight against Miocic. That have been indications the UFC wants Jones to defend the belt against Miocic in his return sometime in mid-2024. Both fighters have been rumored to be on the brink of retirement.

Aspinall said he’s yet to hear from the UFC in terms of its plans with him. When asked if he thinks he’ll fight both or either Jones or Miocic before they retire, Aspinall was unsure.

“I don’t know to be honest,” Aspinall said. “But I know you have to shoot your shot, and sometimes you have to be vocal about it. It’s usually not my style to be out there vocal and calling the shots and this and that, but as I said, it’s my dream – and anyone knocking someone for trying to get their dream fights and dream experience, it’s just silly.

“I would love to experience that before they retire and see how I get on, see how my skills match up. … I’m trying to challenge myself and live my dream while I have the chance.”

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