Tom Aspinall will make his return to the Octagon against Polish powerhouse Marcin Tybura atop the UFC London fight card this Sat. (July 22) at O2 in London, England, in what marks the first appearance for the British bruiser since blowing out his knee in a technical knockout loss to Curtis Blaydes last summer across the pond.
And the stakes have never been higher.
That’s because Aspinall, 30, could put himself in line for the winner of Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic, who collide for “Bones’” belt in the UFC 295 main event later this year in New York. That’s assuming Jones doesn’t follow through on his decision to call it a career after just one heavyweight title defense (more on those comments here).
“The heavyweight division is super exciting right now,” UFC President Dana White told UFC on TNT Sports. “You got Jon Jones as the champion, so obviously a win for [Aspinall] is big. Imagine if we could end up with an England vs. Jon Jones fight.”
Or we could end up with a Poland vs. Cleveland firefighter fight, which just doesn’t grease the wheels as much as Jones vs. Aspinall, but nothing should be ruled out in this crazy sport. Especially since Aspinall has already gone on record to insist he doesn’t want to fight for the heavyweight title because he’s “got a lot more work to do.”
He is, however, deadly serious about beating “Bones.”
It would be difficult to sell an Aspinall title shot with both Blaydes (No. 4) and Sergei Pavlovich (No. 1) ranked above him. I think a victory in London, followed by a win for Ciryl Gane at UFC Paris in Sept., would set up Aspinall vs. Gane for the promotion’s return to London in March, with the winner earning a crack at the heavyweight crown.
For much more on this weekend’s UFC London card click here.