Tom Aspinall has already been sidelined before. But this time, there is no calendar for when he could fight again.
July 23, 2022. The date of the defeat of the UFC of Aspinall alone. Fifteen seconds after a headliner with Curtis Blaydes in London, the knee of Aspinall distributed. The injury slows down the farce that Apinall increases the ranks and it was only almost a year later when it is a successful return with a 73-second Knock-out of Marcin Tybura. A fight later, Aspinall beats Sergei Pavlovich even faster to win an temporary title.
Since then, Aspinall has conscientiously defended his title once, successfully avenging his defeat against Blaydes last July, and clearly indicated that he wanted to fight the undisputed champion Jon Jones. The former king of light heavy goods vehicles beat Ciryl Gane to win a vacant heavyweight title after the departure of Francis Ngannou UFC, then defended his belt against Stipe Miocic at the UFC 309, a year after a Jones injury forced a postponement of their original reservation.
Aspinall spoke to Demetrious Johnson on the MordycastOn how this last layoff is compared to its one year recovery after an injury.
“I had the big injury and then I was at a little crossroads really, as if I had done a little money then, I had done enough to buy a house and all that, and then it was, do I want to continue with this thing?” Aspinall said. “It was obviously devastating to injure each other in front of everyone and all that. But anyway, it was a difficult time for me. I came back, took me a year with rehabilitation with the knee and everything … physiotherapy and all this kind of stuff. So it was a few mentally difficult months, but physiotherapy to work to recover, I would see the doctor, I would see physiation, they loved, “in two weeks, this at 90 degrees. I always had a small goal of working.
“So, after a few months to sit on the sofa, as soon as I could enter the gymnasium and start working towards different things, it was great and I felt good, I said to myself:” I really want to come back. Now I’m going to go, I don’t have an injury, I’m going to win the most things.
While ASPINALL recovered from injuries to his MCL and the meniscus, he knew it would be a long road, but this road was at least bordered by many tangible references. His expectation for Jones has been dragging for over a year, assuming that the undisputed champion would host a unification fight with the acting champion.
This was not the case.
“Now I am almost an inactive year without any prospect of anything except to wait,” said Aspinall. “So now, it’s actually a little more difficult for me mentally than at the time. Even people were then like: “Are you okay?” How do you come back? And things like that.
“It’s a bit mentally difficult, but it is the fight against Jon Jones. The fight is another thing, it is the delicate song where I really have to stay on, stay motivated and I do my best. It’s sometimes difficult.”
One thing that ASPINAL has been maintained for a long time is that he does not blame Jones if his reluctance to compete again is simply a question of money, especially with the long -standing light heavy goods vehicle which is probably only a few fights in his career.
He hopes that however the situation is resolved, it ends with the undisputed heavyweight belt around its size.
“Honestly, I can see Jon’s point of view,” said Aspinall. “I understand. I understand. It’s just the title for me. I just want the title, that’s all. Nothing else really matters. So I completely understand, I have his point of view, get what everyone says, understand completely. I just want to prove that I am the best, that’s all.”