From stunning knockouts to claiming the UFC interim title, Tom Aspinall has achieved a lot in his career, including featuring in two of the greatest photos the sport has ever seen.
The British icon makes his eagerly-anticipated return to the cage on Saturday night at UFC 304 inside the 23,500-seater Co-op Live in Manchester, UK.
Tom Aspinall reveals whether he prefers his Alex Pereira or Sergei Pavlovich photo
On July 27, Tom Aspinall will defend his title against Curtis Blaydes in a rematch two years in the making.
In the first fight, the Englishman damaged his knee just 15 seconds after the first bell, leaving him in no fit state to continue.
The horrifying injury pushed Aspinall to the sidelines, with the slick striker having to go through a long recovery process.
But in a testament to his powers of self-belief, he battled back from the brink, winning the interim title and creating a pair of tremendous photos.
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In the moments prior to rendering Sergei Pavlovich unconscious to become the first man from his country to claim UFC heavyweight gold, he placed his hand on his opponent’s shoulder, with the towering Russian reciprocating, creating a viral snap.
A few months later, the newly crowned interim heavyweight King watched 205-pound champion, Alex Pereira set foot in the octagon and finish Jamahal Hill with a devastating left hook.
While the knockout went viral, so did a picture of Aspinall staring intently at his rival from cageside.
But which of the two cracking shots does the Atherton-born fighter prefer?
In an exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow, he revealed: “The Pavolvich one, definitely. All that was with me and Pereira was me watching him go in the octagon; it just looked pretty good. But the Pavlovich one was better; hand on the shoulder, a bit of respect before the fight. It was all good.”
However, while he claims the picture of him and ‘Poatan’ was nothing significant, that didn’t stop him from uploading it to Instagram, which prompted The Sun to accuse him of ‘Poking the bear’.
Aspinall responded: “I didn’t mean to. I thought it was a good photo, so I posted it.
“He was talking about moving up to heavyweight, wasn’t he? So, I just thought it was pretty fitting, that’s all. I’m a big fan of Alex. He’s a great fighter with a lot of power. He’s really hot right now. I love his style. I think it makes for a good match-up.”
Tom Aspinall reveals how he’d beat Alex Pereira
With a fight with Jon Jones unlikely to materialize anytime soon, Aspinall would love the opportunity to face off with Pereira.
The Brazilian phenom has confirmed that he’s keen to move up to the heavyweight division, informing Joe Rogan after his last fight: “I think that’s in my future.
“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, with the bout emerging as a real possibility, the 262-pound monster has already figured out the brutal way he’d go about beating Pereira.
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