Tom Aspinall welcomes a return to the Octagon, especially in his native England. UFC 286 is slated to take place at London’s iconic O2 arena, the third-such event at the arena since the pandemic ended.
Tom Aspinall Refuses to Rule Out London Bout
Tom Aspinall suffered an ACL tear in his July 6th bout against Curtis Blaydes only after 15 seconds of fighting, giving the Wigan heavyweight his first loss in the UFC. The 29-year-old had reeled off five straight wins heading into his main event with Blaydes, all of those wins coming by first- or second-round finishes. He hopes to continue his run of fine form straight to the title, becoming the first UK-based heavyweight champion.
The recovery from his knee injury, however, has kept him out for 12 months, but the sixth-ranked-heavyweight has not backed off of a fight at the O2 Arena. The pay-per-view event will take place in March 2023, almost a year after the UFC’s original return to London, and where Aspinall headlined twice in 2022.
Tom Aspinall Sounds off on Return
““My ego wants to go, ‘Stick me on the card, I’m good to go,’” Aspinall told OLBG. “But I need to think long term, which I’ve not been doing, and I need to get everything right.”
“I’m not ruling it out. At the minute it’s still like 14 to 15 weeks away, and at this point I’ve not done much heavy training. It’s just been rehab really, but can I get ready in 14 weeks? The answer is yes. Will I be ready to start a title run in 14 weeks? I don’t know.”
In Tom Aspinall’s first London event, he submitted Alexander Volkov in the first round of the main event, catapulting him to new heights in the 265-pound division. However, he could not get that result against Blaydes, as he suffered a grievous leg injury early on in the fight. He has even said that he briefly considered retiring after the injury.
“I can’t afford for that [injury] to happen again,” Aspinall added. “I’m not talking about finances, I’m talking about my ego; my ego can’t take that again. Me on my back, clutching onto my knee… it’s just not going to happen again. There’s just no chance I can let that happen again. The knee has to be 1,000,000 percent [for me to fight in March].
Return From Knee Injury Muddles Timetable
ACL injuries are often recurring- look at the case of Darren Till and Tom Aspinall’s injury was also recurring, if not originally an ACL injury. Hopefully, for the Briton’s sake, it will subside enough for him to return to his quest to the top of the UFC.
Tom Aspinall has begun some light sparring, but he has yet to throw kicks, something that does not bode well for him making a camp for a five-round fight in March. Although he has yet to say he cannot make the fight, there is almost no way that he can perform that soon.
““I can full-on wrestle now, which is great. I literally started that this week,” he said. “I’m looking to get signed off by the physio in eight to 12 weeks, he reckons, completely signed off and back to full-on training. I’m really happy with it all.”
“There still is [doubt in my mind about the knee]. I want that to be gone, because that’s what I’ve been dealing with the last four or five years with this old injury. I’ve been dealing with, ‘I can’t do this because of the knee, and I can’t do that.’
Quotes via The Independent
Hopefully, Aspinall can return to his fine form in the Octagon soon, injury or not. It goes without saying that he has provided an injection of action and new life in the heavyweight division and can change the landscape of the 265-pounders.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
