Tom Aspinall was all in on a “freak show” fight against Brock Lesnar at UFC 300.
Since winning the interim heavyweight world title in November, Aspinall has been in a bit of a holding pattern as undisputed champ Jon Jones recovers from a pectoral injury. Even when Jones returns, ‘Bones’ has his sights set on a divisional superfight with former two-time titleholder Stipe Miocic instead of the much more logical and intriguing unification clash with Aspinall.
As a result, rumors have been flying about some potential big-money matchups for the Salford, England native. During a recent interview with OLBG, Aspinall expected the promotion to pull together something crazy, like a fight with former heavyweight king Brock Lesnar or a champion vs. champion showdown with Alex Pereira.
“With the Jones palaver and all the politics around that, I was thinking they’d maybe give me some freak show kind of fight against Brock Lesnar, or maybe at UFC 300 they’d do something a bit out there like Alex Pereira but that doesn’t look likely now, I have no idea my next move, I’m kind of waiting about,” Aspinall said.
Tom Aspinall Eyeing Rematch with Curtis Blaydes
Aspinall has stayed ready for a potential appearance at the promotion’s next landmark event on April 13, but as we inch closer to the highly anticipated date, it’s looking more and more like he will enjoy the festivities from the stands instead of in the Octagon.
“I absolutely would be ready for UFC 300, I believe now it’s only three months away and I have been training twice a day since a week after my last fight, so my body is in good shape right now,” Aspinall added. “But there isn’t really a realistic opponent. The only realistic ones would be Pereira or Lesnar and they’re not really realistic.”
The most logical fight out there for Aspinall at the moment is a rematch with the only man who holds a victory over him under the UFC banner, Curtis Blaydes. Razor’ is scheduled for a scrap with Jailton Almeida at UFC 299 on March 9. Should he pass his test against the submission specialist, Blaydes could be in for a shot at Aspinall’s interim strap.
“I think I’ll have a rematch with Curtis Blaydes in the UK,” Aspinall said. “I’ve got one loss on my (UFC) record and it’s by injury to Blaydes. And if he wins his next fight – which is a tough fight – if he wins it makes sense to do me and him again at this point, because let’s be honest, I’m not going to get the Jones or Miocic fight the way it’s going. I like Curtis, but professionally he has a win over me and I don’t want him to.”