Tom Aspinall has delivered some incredible highlights during the short amount of time that he has spent inside the Octagon.
His success in the heavyweight division has led to him becoming one of the most popular and exciting fighters in the sport today.
Aspinall’s highlight reel knockouts are a big part of that with the interim champion being a ruthless fight finisher who can close the show in the blink of an eye.
His speed and power are what makes Aspinall vs Jon Jones such an exciting matchup for so many people even if a lot of people are growing tired of the constant conversation surrounding it.
Before he arrived in the UFC, the Brit recorded a quick win that he doesn’t look back on with fond memories due to the impact that it had on his opponent.
Tom Aspinall’s Cage Warriors debut ended in a sickening leg injury to his opponent
On February 16 of 2019, Tom Aspinall made his return to MMA following a three year hiatus by making his debut on Cage Warriors.
The Brit is very used to not spending too much time in the cage and though his main event bout at CW 101 was a quick outing, it didn’t go the way that he hoped for.
Less than 90 seconds into the first round, Aspinall checked a kick from his opponent, Sofiane Boukichou, which caused the Frenchman to suffer a horrific leg injury.
Remarkably, Boukichou, who is still fighting today, would make a remarkable recovery and compete again later that year, facing a debuting Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane in Ares.
The UFC’s interim heavyweight champion spoke about this fight and how he looks back on it during an appearance on Paddy Pimblett’s Chattin Pony podcast.
“It was absolutely horrendous, you know. I’d literally rather lose than that happen. Honestly, I’d rather get knocked out than that, like somebody literally being unable to walk for like a year, because it was disgusting.
“When he tried to stand on it, I knew what had happened straight away. That was horrendous that was, the worst fight of my career by far.”
Tom Aspinall supported his opponent years before his own devastating injury
Though Sofiane Boukichou needed surgery in England, his team had to fly back to France to return to their daily lives, leaving the fighter by himself.
Tom Aspinall reached out to him to ask if he needed anything with a photo of the two former opponents hitting social media the following day, even if the elite heavyweight didn’t want to publicize his friendly gesture.
Three years down the line, the Brit would suffer his own devastating injury inside the cage.
Aspinall has spoken openly about the adversity that he faced following his knee injury that happened just 15 seconds into his first fight with Curtis Blaydes.
He told Pimblett during the podcast that he tried to think of what he would want and require if he was in that position when helping out Boukichou back in 2019.