Tom Aspinall and his dad Andy have opened up about the cruel realities of waiting for a heavyweight title unification.
Interim champion Aspinall has defended his belt as many times as undisputed champion Jon Jones, but a matchup between the pair has seemed to allude the UFC thus far. Dana White continues to insist that the fight is coming, but reports from various sources are not as confident.
However, the Brit is now approaching a year out of action, which is made more egregious by the fact that his fights tend to be over in quick time. He famously has the least cage time of any UFC champion with just over two minutes, and hasn’t been past the second round since an amateur fight 12 years ago.
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Tom Aspinall and dad open up about Jon Jones fight delays
While he waits for news about a potential title fight, Tom Aspinall has continued to train under his father Andy’s tutelage. He showed off exactly what a day in his life is like during a new YouTube video, but his family’s concerns were clear during one later segment.
While the main issue is a prime athlete like Aspinall not being able to get fighting regularly, there are also concerns about his dad’s income as head trainer. He is paid on the basis of his son’s fight purses, of which there have been none since last summer.
“It’s just a massive pain in the a— really,” Andy told viewers. “Tom is just staying fit, really. We’re putting different things into his game and everybody’s game that comes, but it would be really nice because he’s a fighter if he could have a fight.
“He’s had three fights that have lasted a minute a piece his last three fights. It is what it is but we could do with more fights. It’s nice to train for somebody, but otherwise you just go to the gym and train, you like to go with a purpose.
“Also, this is his living and you need to be making money from your living. Especially when you’re fit and healthy rather than sitting on your a— every day and just turning up for training all the time.
“In terms of purely as a coach I’m not getting paid because Tom’s not getting paid. It’s not just about money, it’s about ‘do you want your fighters to have fights when they’re fit to fight? He’s not having fights and it’s frustrating but what do you do?”
Tom gave his take briefly afterwards, adding: “We want some fight news, that’s what we’re after… I’m training twice a day as always, doing the physio, doing the stretching, recovering and doing everything that an elite athlete does every day without the competition bit. That part has nothing to do with me.”
Dana White remains positive about Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones super-fight
Follow Ian Machado Garry’s dominant decision win over Carlos Prates in the main event of UFC Kansas City last night, Dana White fielded question from the media. He had recently announced a slate of fights, but not included were some major hitters.
White confirmed that Dricus Du Plessis will defend his middleweight title at a future show against Khamzat Chimaev. However he refused to comment too much on Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria’s potential bout.
And asked about Jones vs Aspinall, he replied: “Everything you hear is bulls— until we say it. I’ve said it many times, that’s the fight we want to make this year. Still super confident [it happens].”