UFC Fight Night 224 results: Tom Aspinall runs through Marcin Tybura in under two minutes

It was a year away from the UFC cage for Tom Aspinall, but he didn’t need much time Saturday when he finally returned.

It was a year away from the cage for [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag], but he didn’t need much time Saturday when he finally returned.

In the UFC Fight Night 224 main event, Aspinall (13-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) defeated [autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag] (24-8 MMA, 11-7 UFC) via TKO due to punches at 1:13 of Round 1. The performance was one day shy of the one-year anniversary of Aspinall’s devastating knee injury against Curtis Blaydes in the same building, The O2 in London.

Aspinall received a hero’s welcome as he made his way through the tunnel and toward the cage to face Tybura, a fighter who was 7-1 in eight most recent bouts.

When the action began, Aspinall came out quickly. His hand speed was evident from the start, but not ever more so than when he landed a punch that dropped Tybura to the canvas. Tybura covered up as Aspinall rained down ground-and-pound strikes until the fight was waved off.

With the victory, Aspinall solidifies himself as a top contender, already with wins over Alexander Volkov and Serghei Spivac prior to Saturday’s fight.

After the fight, Aspinall revealed his two-step plan for UFC gold. First, he wants the winner of Ciryl Gane vs. Spivac, which takes place on Sept. 2 in Paris. Then, he wants a shot at UFC gold and its current heavyweight holder, Jon Jones.

Full UFC Fight Night 224 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.