Tom Aspinall revealed the interesting training methods he is currently undertaking ahead of his UFC 304 fight with Curtis Blaydes.
The British heavyweight currently holds the interim heavyweight title and looks to set up a title fight with Jon Jones.
Aspinall also spoke about the importance of his upcoming fight.
Tom Aspinall Soaks Knuckles In Petrol
While many UFC fighters have weird superstitions and training methods ahead of their fight, Aspinall has shared his own. Speaking on the MMA Hour he said: “You ever see the documentary Knuckle? You familiar with that? It’s a documentary about travelers, travelling communities in the UK island. And there’s a guy on there, big Joe Joyce. An old travelling legend and big Joe Joyce reveals a few gypsy methods for getting ready for a fight.
“I wanted to resort back to a bit of gypsy heritage that I’ve got, so I thought what I’m going to do is I’m going to make a little ring out of hay bales.
“When it gets to about 4 a.m., I get my alarm on, I go outside, do a bit shadowboxing in the hay bales. Then I do the old traveler method of dipping your knuckles in petrol for about 20 minutes as the sun’s coming up which hardens your knuckles.
“These are some of the hardest knuckles in the UFC right here right now. They’re like rocks.”
An Early Start Doesn’t Bother Aspinall
With UFC 304 set to take place in the UK at 4am to suit the UFC’s North American audience, Aspinall revealed that it won’t affect his preparation. Whilst the timing of the event has drawn criticism from both UK fans and former fighters, Aspinall reveals that it won’t make much of a difference.
Tom Aspinall said: “Look mate, if you can fight really well at 12 o’clock midnight, but you can’t fight really well at 4 a.m. You weren’t that good in the first place, in my opinion.
“Like, there’s plenty of times that I’ve travelled across the world, fought in different time zones without even adjusting myself. And now I’ve had a full training camp at home. I’m right there ready to fight, so if that’s an excuse, mate, you’re not that good in the first place.”
“I have never thought, it never even crossed my mind to think, like, right, I’m going to start sparring at midnight just to get my body ready for it. Never crossed my mind in, like, thirty-plus fights or however many fights I have. And all the times I’ve got on a plane and travelled somewhere, it’s never bothered me about the time difference. Why should it start now? But saying that, I am preparing myself for it. I am waking up, I am doing the shadowboxing. I am taking it very seriously.”
A Seismic Opportunity
Aspinall’s upcoming fight is a seismic opportunity for the British heavyweight to stake his claim for a legitimate title fight next. The Manchester-born fighter who lost to Curtis Blaydes last time, after injuring his ACL, looks set to right the wrongs of last time. Aspinall looks set for a title opportunity if he beats Curtis Blaydes.
Tom Aspinall said: “This is a massive fight for me, both professionally and personally. When I got into the sport of MMA, which is quite a fair portion of my life ago now, this is why I got into it. All of this.
“There’s a lot of people out there trying to get to their dreams and get to their goals in life. This is the goal, this is the dream, this is it. In two weeks’ time, this is the dream. Defending a UFC heavyweight title in my home city of Manchester in front of 25,000 Manchester fans is something that, probably half a percentage of the world gets to live the dream on this level.
“And I’m not talking about just fighting. I’m just talking about people with dreams and goals in general. No matter what happens on that day. I did it and I experienced it, and my whole life’s been leading up to this point.”
With current champion Jon Jones injured and no return date pencilled in at the moment. This fight for Aspinall could advance the division and move the British fighter ahead of Stipe Miocic for a title fight.
Who will win this exciting showdown, Tom Aspinall or Curtis Blaydes? Comment below
Featured image credit to Embed from Getty Images
