Tom Aspinall‘s UFC 304 co-main event couldn’t have gotten any better. The UFC interim heavyweight champion successfully defended his belt against Curtis Blaydes in the first round. With the win, Aspinall also fulfilled his childhood dream of defending his belt in Manchester. However, the journey to the top was never smooth sailing whatsoever.
Aspinall dropped Blaydes and finished the fight via TKO, adding the 12th knockout finish to his professional MMA record. However, there was a time when the fighter struggled financially due to MMA. After UFC 304, an old video from 2016 of Tom Aspinall has gone viral. In the interview, the Brit was talking about leaving MMA to join boxing as he was not getting any fights in MMA.
I’ve decided to focus solely on boxing, but it’s time to learn the trade now. I’ve been doing MMA for a long time. I’ve been struggling to make it pay financially and just not getting many rewards from it because I’m struggling to get fights so it’s time to switch over and do the boxing.
Tom Aspinall via IFLTV
In 2016, Aspinall had a fairly young MMA career. Due to a lack of opportunities, he did take a sabbatical from the sport for two and a half years. At that time, Aspinall made his boxing debut against Tamas Bajzath in 2017 and won the fight via KO. However, he returned to MMA via Cage Warriors and never looked back.
In 2020, Tom Aspinall made his UFC debut and went on a dominant undefeated run. His momentum was broken after he lost the first bout against Curtis Blaydes due to a knee injury. However, the fighter made a comeback and went on to win the interim heavyweight championship. Nevertheless, listening to Aspinall once talking about leaving MMA was definitely surprising for fight fans.
Fight fans react to Tom Aspinall quitting MMA to join boxing back in 2016
Since coming to the UFC, Tom Aspinall has established himself as one of the toughest individuals on the roster. The fighter is a knockout specialist and has spent the least amount of average time inside the octagon. Fans loved Aspinall due to his fighting and solid personality.
Tom Aspinall (via X)As of now, he’s the best in line who could potentially beat the heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Nevertheless, here are some reactions to his latest viral video.
damn he woulda made more millions if he persued boxing
— GeneralCovington (@LakazMMA) July 30, 2024
That’s so crazy. I’ve never seen this before. Thank god he didn’t make the switch.
— Da Cake (@SlipsterOG) July 30, 2024
Awesome seeing the path and life Tom’s achieved following his dreams.
— Kyle Anthony’s UFC Betting (@KyleAnthonyUFC) July 30, 2024
Tommy Asp vs Tyson Fury would’ve been an interesting one.
— Brax Moore (@brax_moore_more) July 30, 2024
nahh this clip is WILD considering what’s transpired since😭
— Toby (@HemDawgg) July 30, 2024
Dreams do come true
Tom Aspinall is the man
— Tmac4real (@Tmac4real1) July 30, 2024
Many made some hilarious comments on Tom Aspinall’s interview. Fans were surprised that the fighter was even considering something like this. Few took notice of Tyson Fury‘s half-brother, Tommy Fury, who wasn’t even a professional boxer back then, along with Aspinall. It leads one to wonder about an alternate reality where the MMA fans missed out on special knockouts from Aspinall.
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