Tom Aspinall is hyped for UFC 308 and has taken time to comb over the intricacies that might decide the thrilling main event between Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria.
Last in action at UFC 304, Aspinall has been biding his time waiting for Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic to settle their business inside the cage finally. In the meantime, Aspinall is keeping his eyes on the combat sports world and is looking forward to the excellent pay-per-view card coming our way this Saturday, October 28th.
In an interview with Adam Catteral of UFC on TNT Sports, the current UFC interim heavyweight champion broke down all the incoming action and spoke on the stylistic matchup between the two fighters.
Tom Aspinall speaks on the incoming mega Banger between Max Holloway and Ilia Topuria at UFC 308
“Being a bit of a shorter guy, what he does really well, Ilia Topuria, is shorter arms so with this fight, he’s going to be looking to get inside and the body hooks, the low kicks and the shot in is what he’s looking for” Tom Aspinall began (H/T Sportskeeda). “Max Holloway (has a) completely contrasting style.”
“The only similar thing is they both like to box, quite a lot,” Aspinall continued. “Max Holloway’s style, he’ll have his hands quite low and his chin quite high… The volume of punches that he throws in a fight is unbelievable. The guy has got ridiculous conditioning.”
When the UFC interim heavyweight champion was asked if he believed whether or not Topuria would attempt to utilize his grappling, he responded:
“I think he’s going to keep him guessing with the takedowns, yeah. It is (hard to take Holloway down), but the threat is there and sometimes that can affect your defensive boxing a little bit because you’re thinking about the takedowns. The hands are low, you’re getting ready for a shot all the time and punches are coming over the top.”
“I think and I’m going to go out there and say, Ilia Topuria can put him down,” Tom Aspinall continued. “He’s got the power to and he mixes it up so well between the disciplines.”
In the interview below, skip to the 6:00 minute mark to hear Aspinall’s breakdown for yourself.