UFC heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall loves what he saw from two of his star teammates this weekend.
It’s a great time to be UFC superstar Tom Aspinall. After recently teasing a looming fight announcement after hinting at a ‘date and location’ set, Aspinall is in high spirits as he prepares for his long-awaited return to the Octagon.
As Aspinall continues to put in hard work in the gym, he’s continuing to garner the knowledge of several combat sports behemoths. KSW heavyweight champion Phil De Fries, and GLORY kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven, have been significant presences in Aspinall’s recent training camps.
Both of them had marquee victories this weekend with Aspinall keeping a keen eye on their performances.
- READ MORE: Rico Verhoeven dominates last kickboxer to beat Alex Pereira as he cements GOAT status at Glory 100
Tom Aspinall reacts to teammates Rico Verhoeven, Phil De Fries’s weekend victories
De Fries, who hasn’t lost an MMA fight since 2017, continued his ascent up the heavyweight mountain with a slick first-round submission over Arkadiusz Wrzosek at KSW 107 on Saturday in Gdansk, Poland. Despite calls for the UFC to pursue De Fries in free agency, the 27-6 giant continues his dominant KSW title reign and is arguably the face of the promotion.
De Fries defended the KSW heavyweight title for the 12th time, and earned a first-round finish for the third occurrence in his last five title defenses. He’s defeated former UFC standouts like Augusto Sakai and Todd Duffee during his KSW heavyweight reign.
Hours later, Aspinall’s other sparring partner Verhoeven put on a gritty performance to defeat Alex Pereira‘s former rival, Artem Vakhitov, by unanimous decision at GLORY’s centennial event. Verhoeven extended his 4,000-plus day title reign in the GLORY ring.
On his Instagram story, Aspinall reacted to De Fries’s win at KSW 107.
“Big [Phil] does it again,” Aspinall posted.
Just minutes later, Aspinall congratulated Verhoeven and coronated his sparring partner as the kickboxing GOAT.
“And so does big [Rico], the best kickboxer ever,” Aspinall said.
Aspinall then reflected on the fortune he has to train with two of the most dangerous men in the world.
“So grateful to be able to share the mats and be friends with these monsters on a regular basis,” Aspinall commented.
“Iron sharpens iron.”
As Aspinall moves closer to a UFC return, fight fans got some answers on Jon Jones‘s status as calls for the promotion to strip him of his title persist.
Jon Jones answered Dana White’s claim that he ‘accepted’ Tom Aspinall fight
In a recent exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow, Jones told Donagh Corby that he was unaware that Dana White recently claimed he had ‘accepted’ the Aspinall bout agreement. Jones then claimed he would fight Aspinall if the UK superstar attends a Dirty Boxing Championship card.
Jones hasn’t fought since defending his lineal heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 in November. After flip-flopping on retirement, a petition for the UFC to strip Jones has accumulated around 200,000 signatures online.
Despite the uncertainty of Jones’s fighting future, Aspinall seems in good spirits after allegedly securing a date and location for his UFC comeback fight. The UFC heavyweight division should get some clarity in the coming weeks.