UFC heavyweight king Tom Aspinall does not think one of his championship peers gets the credit he deserves.
Aspinall, who was elevated to undisputed status following Jon Jones’ controversial retirement, is a leading fan favorite in the UFC.
That is due to both his in-cage results — from Aspinall’s knockouts against Curtis Blaydes and Sergei Pavlovich to his submission opposite Alexander Volkov — and his response to Jones’ refusal to fight him.
It’s safe to say that not every champion is held in as high regard among the masses, and one instance of an under-appreciated titleholder has left Aspinall bemused.
Tom Aspinall calls for Magomed Ankalaev to be ‘given his flowers’
Alex Pereira was once a heavy fixture in discussions about Jon Jones and Aspinall. But talk of ‘Poatan’ moving up to heavyweight in a bid to make history cooled when he was unseated from the light heavyweight throne.
The man responsible for ending Pereira’s brutal reign at 205 pounds was Magomed Ankalaev, whose comfortable victory over the Brazilian at UFC 313 seemingly wasn’t enough to win over many fans who continue to criticize his fight style.
During an interview with Newsweek, Aspinall called for Ankalaev to receive more appreciation from the fanbase while assessing a potential fight with the Dagestani’s rival.
“If I was him (Pereira), I think I would want to get the light heavyweight belt back and go win that. I think he’s got work to do,” Aspinall said.
“I think it’s a tough fight for him in a rematch as well. I think Ankalaev is really good. I think people should start giving him his flowers a little bit, because the guy’s really, really good.”
Tom Aspinall has a supporter in Magomed Ankalaev
When it comes to Aspinall’s defense of Ankalaev, the feeling appears to be mutual.
The Dagestani has also shown his appreciation for the champ in the weight class above, and he even backed the Brit while Jones delayed Aspinall’s career by refusing to fight him.
“Johnny steroid machine was very disappointed I beat Alex. Please fight big Tom Aspinall, stop running,” Ankalaev wrote on X.
“Big Ank [handshake] Big Tom,” he added in a separate post.
With their apparent newfound friendship in mind, Aspinall appears safe from any threat of two-division ambitions from the titleholder below.