Aspinall admits that his division feels dull and inactive, “Not exactly on fire.” Tom Aspinall calls out quiet Heavyweight division, confirms his next fight Is booked. Aspinall, who became interim champ after a quick knockout win over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295, confirmed that he already has his next fight booked.
UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall isn’t happy with the current state of his division. In a recent interview, the British star admits that the UFC heavyweight division feels dull and inactive, and he wants to bring the energy back starting with his next fight, which he says is already booked.
Tom Aspinall made it clear during his long layoff that his goal was always becoming undisputed UFC heavyweight champion whether or not that led him to a fight against Jon Jones. After Jon Jones officially announced his retirement which lasted barely two weeks, Tom Aspinall headed to Las Vegas to meet with UFC officials and discuss his next move. While he admits that Jones was clearly the biggest and most high-profile opponent available, Aspinall is now focused on staying active and believes the heavyweight division will soon start to pick up steam again.
“The heavyweight division’s not exactly on fire at the moment,” Aspinall told Adam Catterall after returning home to England. “From a name point of view. I think the talent’s there. But if you look five plus years ago, just the name value in the top 15 was incredible. We’re talking guys like Fabricio Werdum, Cain Velasquez, [Junior dos Santos], Mark Hunt, Alistair Overeem, Brock Lesnar, etc. Stipe [Miocic], the list goes on and on. You look through the top 15 and it’s like wow, that’s incredible. Where as now, even me who’s a heavyweight, I look through the top 15 and I’m like I’ve not really seen [these guys] fight before.”
“I think over the next few years that’s going to change. I think there’s going to be more big fights at heavyweight. People are going to become bigger names, which is great. We just need more up and coming heavyweights doing a bit in the top 15.”
“I now have a fight, which will get announced, unfortunately that’s not my job,” Aspinall revealed. “But at least we’ve got a date, we’ve got an opponent to work towards. Everything’s good. Very happy with that. I can finally get my career going again.”
Although Tom Aspinall didn’t reveal any official dates, opponents, or event locations just yet, he did speak about a few possible names for his next fight , with former interim champion Ciryl Gane probably occupying the number one spot on the list.. According to Aspinall, this matchup has been years in the making, he admitted the fight never came together, mainly because Gane turned it down in the past.
“We’ve been supposed to fight each other a couple of times before,” Aspinall said about fighting Gane. “He’s a little bit older and at least he started his career in the UFC a little bit earlier than I did. So when I was in, it was always like I was trying to fight him because he was just a little bit above me all the time.
“Fight never materialized. He turned me down a couple of times, to be honest. I don’t think he wanted to fight down the rankings. I don’t know. I get it. I’m a bad fight for everybody. It’s a risky fight for everybody. So I understand why you wouldn’t want to fight down the rankings as well but I’m sure that fight’s going to happen sooner or later.”
Additionally, Aspinall also mentioned Jailton Almeida, who has been rather vocal in calling for a heavyweight title shot. “I like it,” Aspinall said about the Brazilian. “I think he’s good. Took a loss to [Curtis] Blaydes but he looks good. There’s not a lot of good heavyweights around. He looks decent.”
Another possible opponent for Tom Aspinall in the future is Alexander Volkov the Russian heavyweight he beat back in 2022 with a quick armbar submission. Since then, Volkov has done well, winning four out of his last five fights. His only recent loss was a close and controversial split decision to Ciryl Gane in December. Even though Aspinall isn’t rushing into a rematch, he believes he and Volkov will probably meet again someday.
“I actually thought [Volkov] won the Gane fight as well. To be honest,” Aspinall said. “Just but I think he won it. To be honest, I knew how good Volkov was when I fight him. He’s really good. He is really, really good. I think he has improved since then. I think we probably will rematch at some point. I would imagine so. I wasn’t very good then in comparison to what I’m like now.
“So if we do rematch, that would be interesting. Don’t get me wrong, there’s never any two fights that are the same but I think if you compare now to comparing me to three or four years ago, whenever that fight was, you’ve got to remember that was my first main event as well. That was my first time fighting in front of a crowd as well. That was after the pandemic. Way, way different now than it was then. I think that fight will happen again, I would imagine. I think Volkov’s going to keep winning. I think that fight will happen at some point for sure.”
“There’s a few guys I’ve not fought,” Aspinall said. “I won’t mention any names because they’ll just cut it up and post it but the guys that I’ve not fought know who they are and they’re the guys that I want to fight.”
Tom Aspinall may not have all the answers about what’s next, but one thing’s for sure , he’s not slowing down. In a division that’s been quiet for too long, he’s bringing the noise, the fights, and the fire fans have been waiting for. Whether it’s Gane, Volkov, or someone new, the heavyweight crown won’t be passed quietly and Aspinall is ready to fight for it.
