UFC 304: The rugby league roots of interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall
He’s one of the most dangerous fighters on the planet, but Tom Aspinall grew up playing rugby league too and in another life, could have been a star of another code.
In another life, Tom Aspinall might have been plying his trade in the Super League, or maybe even the NRL.
It’s turned out all right for him though.
As it stands, the 31-year-old is the UFC’s interim heavyweight champion, one of the most dangerous men on the planet, and this weekend, will defend his title in front of his home town fans at UFC 304 in Manchester.
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One of the most agile heavyweights in the world, Aspinall has won six performance of the night bonuses in his eight UFC fights, including six first round stoppage wins.
He won the interim title with another stunning first round knockout win over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 in December.
His post-match speech went viral as he dedicated the win to his dad, who quit his job as an IT manager to train him full time when Tom was 12.
It’s his dad who has the rugby league connection too.
Andy Aspinall was a schoolboy talent in the north of England and even played alongside current England coach Shaun Wane.
Once his career ended, Andy spent time as a wrestling and grappling coach with Wigan and Salford.
Tom – who played as a youngster – accompanied his dad to a few of those sessions, and still reckons he could make it in top flight rugby league.
“I guarantee if I get the ball and run full blast they’re not going to stop me,” he said in 2022. “I’m dead serious.
“If I run at a guy who doesn’t know the stuff I know about grappling, I guarantee they’re not getting me to the ground.”
This weekend, Aspinall will need to use all of his grappling nous against fearsome wrestler Blaydes.
A win should see Aspinall book a long-awaited showdown with heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
This weekend’s fight is a rematch of their anticlimactic 2022 main event in London when Aspinall suffered a horrendous knee injury just 15 seconds into the first round.
“That fight’s in the past, I’m not focused on that, it wasn’t really a fight,” he said this week. “Curtis is a good guy, with good skills, but we’re two different guys than we were two years ago.
“MMA moves quick. This is a new fight.”
Aspinall has had to two fights and two wins since returning from that injury, and has made big improvements to his approach.
But he’s also gone old school.
This will be Aspinall’s first fight with the much-hyped new UFC gloves, which don’t have as much padding on the knuckles. When he first tried them on, he knew he needed to adapt.
“I thought I needed to harden the knuckles up, so I’ve been doing the old gypsy method of dipping them in petrol,” he said. “They’re like rocks, mate.
“If I get a disgusting knockout on Saturday, you’d better believe half the roster will be dipping their hands in petrol.”
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