Atherton’s own Tom Aspinall has the chance to achieve greatness this weekend as he aims to become the third British fighter to win a UFC belt. Madison Square Garden is the stage for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 295 the 30th anniversary show for the UFC.
After a shoulder injury suffered in training, current champion Jon Jones was forced to pull out of the main event slot against Stipe Miocic in what would have been a colossal collision between two of the greatest UFC fighters of all time. With that fight being legacy defining for both men, Dana White decided not to put Miocic in with another fighter before Jones returns so we now have the new generation of heavyweights competing for the interim strap. Monstrous puncher Sergei Pavlovich was the backup for the event and he will get his shot against Tom Aspinall.
Early Career
Aspinall struggled in his early career to find matchups he experienced many opponents pulling out in addition he struggled with locating the right size training partners. He fought twice in Cage Warriors, one of the best breeding grounds in European MMA both fights lasted less than 90 seconds. This was most likely one of the reasons why it was so hard to find opponents. In the end Aspinall bit the bullet and jumped up into the UFC as he felt he had no other options on the table, and as we look back know we can see that was quite clearly the right decision.
UFC Tenure
He made his debut back in 2020 out in Abu Dhabi in the UFC first lot of Fight island events. 45 seconds was all it took for Aspinall to finish Jake Collier and earn himself a performance bonus that night. Three months later Alan Baudot faced the same fate as Aspinall finished him in the very first round, next up was his biggest test to date in former champion and future hall of famer Andrei Arlovski. Yet again Aspinall passed the test with flying colours and secured a second round submission. Another bonus earning finish of rising contender at the time Serghei Spivac in September 2021 ended the year of well for Aspinall. In 2022 the Briton headlined the UFC’s return to London in a main event against Alexander Volkov, this was the performance of his career and the moment the world knew this man was ready for title contention.
Later in the year in July the UFC returned to London for another huge fight night, yet again headlined by the heavyweight however this would not follow the script of his sensational UFC run so far. He faced strong wrestler Curtis Blaydes and 15 seconds into the very first round a mistimed leg kick blew his knee out. However disastrous this may have seemed at face value Aspinall now sees this as a blessing in disguise and he proved it to the world a year on in July this year. Marcin Tybura was a tough gritty heavyweight in great form and the chosen opponent for his return, 73 seconds was all it took for Aspinall to announce his return in a revitalised state.
Facing Sergei Pavlovich
Now on only two and half weeks notice he steps in to face one of the scariest heavyweights alive. Pavlovich is 18-1 with a 100% finish rate in the UFC and all six wins came in the very first round. His sole loss was in his UFC debut to MMA icon Alistair Overeem. Pavlovich may come across as just a big hitter but he is far from it, he brings an elite Greco-Roman wrestling base to the table he just has not yet needed to use it in the UFC.
Who do you think wins between Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich?
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
