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.
Following Jones retirement that apparently lasted all of two weeks Aspinall traveled to Las Vegas where he spoke to UFC officials about what comes next for him. He admits looking down the roster at the list of potential opponents that Jones was obviously the biggest and most important fight available to him but he expects things in the division to start shaking up again with his plans to remain a very active champion.
The heavyweight divisions 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 talents there. But if you look five plus years ago, just the name value in the top 15 was incredible. Were talking guys like Fabricio Werdum, Cain Velasquez, [Junior dos Santos], Mark Hunt, Alistair Overeem, Brock Lesnar, etc, etc. Stipe [Miocic], the list goes on and on. You look through the top 15 and its like wow, thats incredible. Where as now, even me whos a heavyweight, I look through the top 15 and Im like Ive not really seen [these guys] fight before.
I think over the next few years thats going to change. I think theres 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.
The good news is Aspinall expects that hell return to action sooner than later now that the UFC has offered him a fight that he already accepted.
I now have a fight, which will get announced, unfortunately thats not my job, Aspinall revealed. But at least weve got a date, weve got an opponent to work towards. Everythings good. Very happy with that. I can finally get my career going again.
Given the UFC calendar for the rest of 2025, Aspinall is likely looking at a return to action in October, November or December depending on where the promotion slots him in. The October pay-per-view is set for Abu Dhabi with the UFC expected to travel to New York for an event at Madison Square Garden in November.
The final big show happens in December with all signs pointing towards a homecoming in Las Vegas as the UFC closes out the year.
Aspinall didnt mention any dates, locations or opponents, although he did address a couple of potential matchups with former interim champion Ciryl Gane likely sitting at the top of the list.
Weve been supposed to fight each other a couple of times before, Aspinall said about fighting Gane. Hes 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 dont think he wanted to fight down the rankings. I dont know. I get it. Im a bad fight for everybody. Its a risky fight for everybody. So I understand why you wouldnt want to fight down the rankings as well but Im sure that fights going to happen sooner or later.
Aspinall also addressed Jailton Almeida, who has been rather vocal in calling for a heavyweight title shot.
I like it, Aspinall said about the Brazilian. I think hes good. Took a loss to [Curtis] Blaydes but he looks good. Theres not a lot of good heavyweights around. He looks decent.
Another potential name for the future is Russian heavyweight Alexander Volkov, who Aspinall defeated via armbar submission back in 2022. Since then, Volkov has gone 4-1 with his only loss coming in a close, somewhat controversial split decision to Gane this past December.
While it doesnt sound like Aspinall is rushing towards any rematches right now, he definitely sees Volkov as a future opponent in the future.
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. Hes 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 wasnt very good then in comparison to what Im like now.
So if we do rematch, that would be interesting. Dont get me wrong, theres 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, youve 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 Volkovs going to keep winning. I think that fight will happen at some point for sure.
No matter the opponent, Aspinall is just excited to get back to work after a frustrating year off but he definitely sees new challenges awaiting him now that hes the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion.
Theres a few guys Ive not fought, Aspinall said. I wont mention any names because theyll just cut it up and post it but the guys that Ive not fought know who they are and theyre the guys that I want to fight.
