Tom Aspinall reacts after booking interim heavyweight title fight against Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295: “I’m doing a Bisping”
Tom Aspinall is reacting after booking an interim heavyweight title fight against Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 saying ‘I’m doing a Bisping’.
With the news that Jon ‘Bones’ Jones (27-1 MMA) suffered an injury, the upcoming bout between Jones and Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA) will no longer be on the card for UFC 295.
UFC 295 will take place on Saturday November 11th at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Stepping in to replace Jones vs. Miocic will be Tom Aspinall (13-3 MMA) vs. Sergei Pavlovich (18-1 MMA) for the interim heavyweight title fight.
In an interview with ‘The Mac Life‘, Aspinall shared how he got the news that he was being considered for UFC 295:
“I got it confirmed about three hours ago. So, it’s now about 7 a.m. U.K. time, I found out at like 4 a.m. Got the ol’ middle of the night phone call and they were like, ‘Oh, sorry, take some sleep.’ I’m like, ‘How the f**k am I supposed to sleep, you just told me I’m fighting for the Heavyweight title! I can’t just go back to sleep.’ So, yeah, I’ve been up since four.”
Advising the initial call came on Tuesday of this week, Tom Aspinall continued:
“The highest up people in UFC never call, so he called me, I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ and he said, ‘Are you healthy? That’s the first thing he asked, he was like, ‘Are you healthy.’ ‘Yeah, I’m healthy. Why, what’s going on?’ ‘There’s some crazy sh*t going on with this New York card. Are you ready to fight in two weeks?’ And I said, ‘I can be, if you want me to be ready, I’ll be ready in two weeks.’ He said, ‘Well, I’ll just have to let you know tomorrow.’ So, obviously I was waiting … And then just woke me up with a call that it’s all going ahead.”
As far as Aspinall fighting Pavlovich instead of Miocic, the 30 year old Brit said:
“I weren’t too bothered, they’re all tough fights aren’t they? I think that Pavlovich is the most dangerous, to be honest. I think he’s the most dangerous guy in the UFC. I think it’s f**king the most dangerous situation you could have. Fighting the most dangerous guy in the UFC on two weeks notice. But I’m willing to put it all on the line, this is my absolute dream and I’m doing a Bisping, aren’t I? Bisping did it on two weeks notice and won against Rockhold so why can’t I do it?”
It’s true that Michael Bisping (30-9 MMA) fought Luke Rockhold (16-6 MMA) back in June of 2016 at UFC 199. Bisping took the fight on two weeks notice and defeated Rockhold by KO in round 1, ultimately winning the UFC middleweight title.
Concluding Tom Aspinall spoke of the fact that he’ll be ‘ready’ to take on Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 (h/t MMAMania):
“The champion’s unavailable for a year, so yeah, I’m the champ until the champ comes back, when I win. And then I’ll freaking beat the champ as well if he wants it, you know what I mean? It doesn’t really concern me, I’m not too bothered about interim belts or non-interim belts and all that sh*t. I’m just happy I got a fight because I’m healthy, I’m good to go, I really didn’t want to wait til next year because I’m in the gym.”
“I’m coming off a year break because I did my knee, so while I’m healthy, I want to take advantage of it, so I’m just really happy I get to fight anyone, and with it being for an interim belt, that’s even better.”
“I’m going to have to train three, four times a day now going forward. It’s going to have to be the most focused two weeks of my life. So, I’m going to sack all that off and just go full…. I’ve done some really good training as it is, I’ve not been in camp as such but I’ve got some good training under my belt. So, I’m way ahead on the two-week camp.”
Are you excited to see Tom Aspinall vs Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event on November 11th? Do you believe Aspinall can ‘do a Bisping’ at UFC 295?
Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!
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