Tom Aspinall admits he was "fighting with one leg" during unbeaten UFC run

18 July 2023 , 15:17

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Tom Aspinall admits he was "fighting with one leg" during unbeaten UFC run

Tom Aspinall is excited to see what his UFC future holds after breaking into the top of the heavyweight division with one leg.

Aspinall, 30, makes his octagon return this Saturday in the main event of UFC London against veteran heavyweight Marcin Tybura. It marks a return to the same venue where Aspinall broke his leg almost a year ago to the date, as his clash against Curtis Blaydes at The O2 arena ended in disaster just 15-seconds into the fight.

A lengthy spell on the sidelines has given Aspinall a lot of time to reflect on his UFC run, in which he won five consecutive fights by knockout before his freak injury against Blaydes. "I was literally doing it all with one leg, that's why I feel so confident moving forward. The close people around me like my dad know that I was doing a lot of wrong stuff before with one leg and still winning. I feel very confident and happy moving forward, I feel like everyone is going to see how good I can be now," he told Mirror Fighting.

Who wins this Saturday at UFC London - Tom Aspinall or Marcin Tybura? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below

Aspinall's rapid rise through the heavyweight division broke a UFC record set by Ronda Rousey for the fastest time to record five wins in the promotion's history. All but one of Aspinall's UFC wins have taken place in the first round, the fastest of which was a 45-second knockout against Jake Collier in his debut.

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A lot of changes have been made in Aspinall's training camp compared to his last outing, as he cut off a lot of distractions and made several lifestyle improvements. "I had a lot of stuff in my personal and professional life which didn't propel me where I want to go, which is being the UFC heavyweight champion," he added.

Tom Aspinall suffered a horror leg break in his last fight (Zuffa LLC)

"I would train three or four hours a day, but the other 20 hours I wasn't living like an athlete at all. I would turn up to sessions and there would be nobody on the mat anywhere near my size. My training was wrong, I wasn't sleeping well enough and I was doing stuff in my personal life that I shouldn't have been doing.

"It's hard to cut things out when you are winning, when everything is going your way it's hard to turn around and say 'I'm going to change everything'. If people around me aren't on board with being champion, they shouldn't be around me. There was a lot of people holding me back and they're gone. I feel like my whole mindset towards everything has changed."

Harry Davies