The UFC‘s No 4-ranked heavyweight Tom Aspinall gave a hilarious explanation as to why he will have his hand raised on Saturday night against No 2 Sergei Pavlovich.
At Thursday’s press conference ahead of UFC 295, Aspinall suggested his incredible agility – despite his 6ft 5ins, 260lb frame – will be the key to capturing interim heavyweight gold.
‘I’m not gonna stand in the middle of the cage and have a shootout with him, I’m not gonna have a d***-measuring competition with him,’ Aspinall Joked. ‘Both literally and figuratively because he’ll probably win both. We’ll see what happens.’
The Englishman added: ‘There’s nobody 6ft 5ins, 260lbs that moves the way that I move… he can get all the training partners that he wants in the world but you can’t replicate a guy like me in the gym.’
Aspinall – who hails from Wigan – has the opportunity to become the third UFC champion from the United Kingdom, following Hall of Famer Michael Bisping and welterweight king Leon Edwards.
Tom Aspinall is confident that he will win his interim title bout at UFC 295 on Saturday night
Aspinall praised Sergei Pavlovich’s skills but remained bullish about winning the belt
‘It’s massive, UK MMA is so big right now,’ Aspinall said.
‘We have so many good fighters in the UFC and in other organizations as well, we’re doing so well as a country. To win the heavyweight title and take it to the UK is absolutely massive.’
When asked about bringing the UFC title home to his family, the 30-year-old said that Saturday night would be the realization of a life-long dream.
‘I’ve been thinking about that since I was eight years old,’ Aspinall said. ‘Couple of days away now, it’s gonna happen.’
Aspinall has a 13-3 MMA record and averages less than three minutes in the UFC Octagon
Aspinall and Pavlovich were inserted into the Madison Square Garden card after Jon Jones suffered an injury that ruled him out a title defense and legacy fight with Stipe Miocic.
Like Aspinall, Pavlovich is known for finishing fights early, with both averaging less than three minutes in the Octagon per fight. But despite his respect for Pavlovich’s ability, Aspinall’s self-belief remains steadfast ahead of Saturday night.
‘He impresses me everywhere, I don’t think you can look at his game and be like: “This is where he’s weak”,’ Aspinall said of his opponent.
‘I think the biggest issue he’s got fighting a guy like me is there’s not another guy like me in the heavyweight division.’
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