Tom Aspinall has confirmed that he will defend his UFC interim heavyweight title when the UFC returns to Manchester in July this year.
Tom Aspinall won the interim strap at UFC 295 back in November, knocking out Sergei Pavlovich in round one. The interim title was implemented after the undisputed champion, Jon Jones, suffered a pectoral injury, putting him on the sidelines.
Since then, Aspinall has relentlessly called for a title unification fight with ‘Bones’ but because of the 36-year-old’s disinterest in that fight, he has turned his attention elsewhere.
Tom Aspinall to defend his interim title at UFC Manchester
Earlier this month, UFC CEO, Dana White, announced that the promotion would return to the UK later this year for another PPV event. It is rumored that the event will take place in July at the new Co-op arena.
The UFC brought a PPV event to London last year, as Leon Edwards defended his welterweight strap against Kamaru Usman in their trilogy at UFC 286.
Despite London being their frequent landing spot for UK events, they have previously held events in Manchester, with the first being back in 2007 for UFC 70. They returned two years later for UFC 105, as Randy Couture took on Brandon Vera.
The most recent event held in Manchester was UFC 204 in 2016 when Michael Bisping successfully defended his middleweight title.
In a post on his social media, Tom Aspinall confirmed that he will defend his title at the event, saying, “I had a meeting with the UFC, it has now been confirmed that I am fighting on UFC Manchester, so I’m back home preparing for that now, started the early stages of training camp.
“Just waiting for my opponent to accept so stay tuned and I’ll be announcing it soon.” Aspinall added.
Possible opponents for Tom Aspinall’s interim title defense
Following his UFC 300 main event win this past weekend – which Tom Aspinall was in attendance for – Alex Pereira called for a heavyweight title fight next.
There were previously rumors that Aspinall and Pereira would fight at UFC 300, but of course that fight didn’t come to fruition. Despite Pereira calling out the interim champion, that fight is unlikely to happen next.
The 31-year-old has made it clear that he wants his next fight to be against Curtis Blaydes, with that being the most likely outcome.
‘Razor’ Blaydes returned to the win column at UFC 299, pulling off the upset against Jailton Almeida. After Aspinall injured his knee during his 2022 main event against Blaydes, that is a fight he wants back.