UFC Hall of Famer Reveals Advice to Tom Aspinall Before KO Win Over Sergei Pavlovich
UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping has detailed the conversation he had with Tom Aspinall immediately before the heavyweight’s title-winning performance in the co-main event of UFC 295.
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Aspinall successfully returned from a year-long layoff caused by a knee injury when he defeated Marcin Tybura in July. UFC 295 was supposed to see Jon Jones defend his heavyweight belt for the first time against Stipe Miocic, but when Jones suffered an injury Aspinall was booked to meet Sergei Pavlovich in a matchup for the interim heavyweight belt.
The 30-year-old knocked out Pavlovich in just over a minute to become the third champion from England in UFC history, and Bisping recently revealed that he spoke to Aspinall backstage shortly before he made the walk to the Octagon at Madison Square Garden.
Bisping also took advantage of a short-notice opportunity to win the middleweight belt at UFC 199.
(Jake Roth/USA TODAY Sports)
“Now when it came to fight night, I was in Madison Square Garden and I was front row,” Bisping explained on his YouTube channel. “And I’m sitting there, and I thought, 'Do you know what, I’m gonna pop backstage. I’m gonna go and see Tom.’ So I went backstage, and Tom is so humble…He said to me, ‘Have you got any last minute advice for me?’”
“The Count” famously claimed the UFC middleweight title when he stepped in on short notice to meet Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 and scored a first-round knockout after he had been submitted by Rockhold in their previous meeting.
Bisping unsurprisingly backed his fellow Englishman to defeat Pavlovich ahead of UFC 295, and when Aspinall asked for some pre-fight advice the UFC Hall of Famer decided to keep things simple.
Aspinall stopped Pavlovich in just over a minute at UFC 295.
(Wendell Cruz/USA TODAY Sports)
“I just said basically, ‘Listen, the Octagon is a very, very big area - as you know. Use all of that space.’ But then ultimately, I just said, ‘Tom, be yourself. You don’t need my advice, okay? Go out there, do what you always do, believe in yourself, believe in your training, believe in all of the work that you’ve done with your team and your sparring partners…Believe in yourself, and you’re gonna be just fine.’”
Aspinall’s victory over Pavlovich now leaves the UFC with two active champions from England for the first time in the promotion’s history. Leon Edwards claimed the welterweight title when he dramatically knocked out Kamaru Usman last year, and “Rocky” will defend his belt for the second time when he meets Colby Covington at UFC 296.
UFC CEO Dana White still seem committed to rebooking the Jones vs. Miocic fight even though Aspinall now holds the interim belt, and it will be interesting to see how long the newly-crowned champion has to wait for his opportunity to try and unify the heavyweight titles.
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