Tom Aspinall pulled off an incredible feat last month back at UFC 304. He avenged his former loss to Curtis Blaydes and defended his interim heavyweight title. The Brit now revealed that he did all that with absolutely zero amount of sleep. Here is what happened:
Tom Aspinall recently sat down for a conversation on the Believe You Me podcast. During his discussion with Anthony Smith and Michael Bisping, Aspinall shared that he defeated Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 after enduring 24 hours of no sleep. Turns out the Brit was back at his hotel overthinking heaps of negative thoughts one after the other that did not allow him to fall asleep.
I just ended up lying there for like 4 or 5 hours not being able to sleep. Honestly by the time I fought, so I fought around 6 am or 5.30/6 am, I was awake for nearly 24 hours
Tom Aspinall on the Believe You Me podcast
Aspinall revealed that he was conscious of the pressure of fighting at home ground with thousands of fans on his side. The pressure built up uncontrollably and he lay there in his hotel room for over four hours with absolutely zero amount of sleep.
🤯😴Tom Aspinall reveals he didn’t sleep for nearly 24 hours before his fight against Curtis Blaydes:
“Got back to the hotel put my head on the pillow and all those negative thoughts just started running through my mind…I don’t want to get knocked out in front of 25,000 of my… pic.twitter.com/uHPZlZGpqv
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 20, 2024
Despite this, Aspinall secured a first-round TKO victory, blitzing Blaydes with punches and ground-and-pound within just 60 seconds. This victory was particularly significant as it avenged his previous loss to Blaydes, which had resulted from a freak knee injury in their first fight.
Tom Aspinall responds to Jon Jones’s latest tweet hinting at retirement
There have been ongoing rumors that Jon Jones was avoiding a fight against Tom Aspinall. After Aspinall’s impressive interim title defense at UFC 304, he called out Jones, sparking back-and-forth exchanges. Jones is set to fight Stipe Miocic this November and he recently hinted that he might retire afterward.
The heavyweight champion recently sent out a tweet. There he stated that he was 37 years old now, and has “kicked everyone’s a*s.” He now wants to finish strong and make an amazing movie. The UFC icon wrote that he wanted to go join Tom Brady, Floyd Mayweather, and “all the other retired bad a***s.” Tom Aspinall responded to this with an Instagram story of his own.
Wonder if it was that video or my fighting that retired him? Please make sure you pass me the belt on the way out of the octagon if you beat Biden.
Tom Aspinall on his Instagram story
The Brit had already taken jabs at both Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic. Aspinall suggested that Jones was avoiding a potentially risky fight against him by prioritizing the Miocic bout and then planning to retire. UFC CEO, Dana White had promised Aspinall a title fight with the winner of the Jones vs. Miocic fight so it will be interesting to see how that goes in the coming months.
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