When undisputed heavyweight champion of the world Tom Aspinall stepped into the Octagon for UFC 321 on Saturday night to defend his title, he did so believing that there was a non-zero chance he could die.
“Essentially, you’re putting your life on the line in front of millions of people. That might sound a bit extreme, but bad things can happen in there,” he told CNN’s Becky Anderson earlier this week.
“I don’t want to die in the cage. I definitely don’t want to. But it’s a dangerous sport. The idea is to hurt the other person.
“It’s them or me, one of us has to get beat up, and it’s going to have to be them, it’s as simple as that,” he said.
The “other person” on Saturday was Ciryl Gane, himself a former interim heavyweight champion. And though the fight was much anticipated, representing Aspinall’s first defense of the undisputed title he claimed when former holder Jon Jones retired in June, it ended prematurely and controversially.
Gane accidentally poked Aspinall in the eye at the end of the first round and, when the Brit was unable to continue, the referee declared the fight a no-contest.
That meant Aspinall retained his title, albeit in bizarre circumstances, and he was taken to hospital after the fight.
Despite not defeating a reigning champion to gain his title, Aspinall has established himself as the dominant figure in the heavyweight division. The Englishman is 8-1 in the UFC, with his only loss coming when he sustained an unfortunate non-contact injury 15 seconds into his 2022 fight against Curtis Blaydes.
Having claimed all but one of his wins in the first round, Aspinall also holds the record for the shortest average fight time in UFC history.
Aspinall does not believe he is the dominant name in the sport just yet, but is clearly proud of his ascent to the top of his division.
“I don’t know if I’m the face. I think that’s a bit unfair on a couple of other people to say that I’m the face,” he said.
“But I keep telling myself that this is where I wanted to be, the first time I put the gloves on. And all these years later, this is where we are.”
Aspinall’s status within the sport would make him a strong candidate to feature in President Donald Trump’s proposed UFC fight on the White House lawn, and the 32-year-old would not turn down the opportunity were it to come his way.
“If it was offered to me, yeah. Absolutely I would. I’d fight anywhere in the world,” he said. “If I’m still the champion by then, whoever the number one contender is, that’s who I’ll fight.”
“I think any time a big name like (Trump), or somebody else of his stature, is involved with the sport and they’re attached to it, there’s more eyes on the sport,” he said.
