Throughout his career, Tom Aspinall has exhibited lightning hands, but in the face of Alex Pereira, would he let his punches fly or utilize his formidable grappling skills?
The two fearsome champions could one day share the cage in a mouth-watering clash. And the Brit already knows exactly what tactics he’d implement.
Tom Aspinall reveals brutal gameplan for potential fight with Alex Pereira
On July 27, Tom Aspinall will collide with Curtis Blaydes in an eagerly-anticipated rematch at UFC 304 inside the 23,500-seater Co-op Live in Manchester, UK.
But while he’s focused on his American adversary, the world is already looking ahead to a massive showdown with Alex Pereira.
The two sporting titans are masters on the feet, with both showcasing awe-inspiring striking skills, which they honed long before they ever reached the UFC.
For years, Aspinall traded leather over many a round of sparring with former boxing world champion, Tyson Fury, absorbing everything that makes ‘The Gypsy King’ so great, with the aim of emulating it within his own fights.
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Meanwhile, ‘Poatan’ dominated the world of kickboxing, destroying an array of legendary Glory fighters with his fearsome left hook.
Thus, with Pereira capable of rendering his opponents unconscious at any second, just like Aspinall, it comes as no surprise that the Englishman has a lot of respect for the 205-pound King.
In an exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow, he said: “He’s a beast. I’m a big fan of his. I like what he does and what he’s about. He’s there to fight, fights anybody, and is willing to do it on short notice. We have pretty similar mindsets if I do say so myself.”
However, while he admires the Brazilian, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t love the opportunity to go head-to-head with him in the octagon, admitting that he wouldn’t refrain from using his ferocious physical power.
He confessed: “If we fought, I’d just sprint across the octagon, rugby tackle him, and hold him on the floor.”
Speaking later to JNMEDIAUK, Aspinall added on the brutal gameplan: “Full blast mate, f***** 40-yard dash straight across, head in the middle in a full-on spear.
“Hopefully I’d knock him out just with that, if I don’t knock myself out… One of us would get knocked out from that, either me or him, and hopefully it’d be him.”
Luckily for fans, this scenario could potentially play out, with the light-heavyweight phenom confessing he’s keen to test his skills against the big boys.
It’s only a matter of time until Alex Pereira moves up to heavyweight
Following his incredible second-round knockout of Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303, Pereira was asked by Joe Rogan whether he’d be interested in a new challenge in the promotion’s biggest weight class.
“I think that’s in my future,” acknowledged the 37-year-old, adding that: “I said that last time I was here; I say that a lot, but there didn’t seem to be too much interest in the organization.
“But I’m here, I’m available, and I do think that this is in my future… I think the fans have a lot of say in this, whatever they want. In the end, these are the people paying for this, and if this is what they want, it’s going to be inevitable.”
Therefore, if both Aspinall and Pereira keep winning, the monster bout could be on the horizon. However, the Brit isn’t getting ahead of himself.
Having lost to Blaydes in their first encounter just 15 seconds in via a devastating knee injury, this time around, the interim heavyweight champion has prepared to the best of his ability to ensure he’s ready for whatever his rival brings to the table.
He told Bloody Elbow: “I feel like we’ve both evolved since the first fight. No two fights are the same. I’ll have a similar game plan, but I’m just going to go out there, move around, and see what happens. You never know how it’s going to go until fight night, so I’m ready for anything.”
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