Aspinall took on Sergei Pavlovich for the interim heavyweight title in 2023 – but suffered a gruesome injury just days after accepting the fight
Tom Aspinall won the interim heavyweight title against Sergei Pavlovich back in 2023 – but the fight was nearly being scrapped.
Earlier that year, Jon Jones claimed the undisputed heavyweight title after submitting Ciryl Gane inside the first round. Immediately after the showdown, the former dual-weight champion called for a fight with UFC legend, Stipe Miocic. The pair were on course to fight in November 2023 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
However, just a few weeks before the clash, Jones was forced to withdraw due to a brutal shoulder injury. Rather than keeping Miocic on the card, the UFC decided to pit Aspinall and Pavlovich against each other for the interim belt. Recalling the phone call from the UFC brass, Aspinall said on the ‘Tom Aspinall: Road To Undisputed – The Documentary’: “Let me set the scene for you. It’s like 5am and I can hear my phone vibrating. I am like ‘who is this ringing me at this time?’ And it is Hunter Campbell.”
The UFC chief informed Aspinall of Jones’ injury – which forced him to pull out of his clash with Miocic. The American then explained to the heavyweight star that he would be fighting Pavlovich for the interim title.
After receiving the once in a lifetime opportunity, Aspinall was quick to head straight to the gym. Disaster struck, though, after the Brit suffered a back injury during sparring. A decision had to be made, and the Wigan warrior contemplated pulling out of the fight. “It’s like ‘right okay,'” Aspinall continued.
“The next day, I sparred. I just wanted to see if I had five rounds in the tank. Three rounds in… I pulled my back. Never had an injury like it. Back was completely stiff. Literally could not walk. I just agreed to this fight… I am going to have to cancel. I might never get this opportunity again. So, I am getting physio. I am getting massages, stretching it. I am taking anti-inflammatories. I am doing all kinds of stuff for it. The day before we got the flights, I started to be able to move my back a little bit.”
Following the positive sign, Aspinall bit the bullet and headed to New York. It was no easy task. Prior to the showdown with the Russian, Aspinall returned from a year-long lay-off due to injury against Marcin Tybura after he suffered an agonising knee injury against Curtis Blaydes. The Brit would go on to brutally stop Tybura in just over a minute, before being presented with the opportunity to face Pavlovich.
During Aspinall’s absence, Pavlovich fought three times while his British rival was in the recovery room, defeating Derrick Lewis, Tai Tuivasa and Blaydes – with all three knockout finishes coming in the first round. Heading into the showdown with the Wigan warrior, many assumed the Russian knockout artist would make easy work of Aspinall.
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Speaking of the fight, Aspinall said: “For the first time in my career, I was like ‘this is win-win.’ You got to remember at the time, Pavlovich was on like a six fight first round knockout streak. He was this unbeatable, big, scary, Russian guy – just knocking everybody senseless. I was taking the fight on two weeks’ notice.
“Usually I go in and I am like ‘I have prepped for this for eight weeks, studied. I have done this, this, and this. I have done this amount of sparring. I have lifted these weights. I have recovered on this day. I have done my stretching. I have got my diet on point.’ I did not have any of that. I just rocked up, four or five days before the fight with a back that I could hardly move around. All this stuff weighs heavy on you mentally, but you have got to be in there to win. So, let’s just have a go because I do not know when the next one is going to be.”
That said, Aspinall would go on to shock the world by needing just 69 seconds to stop Pavlovich and claim the interim prize. “It is up there with having children,” he said. “It’s as close as it can get to that. For me to pull it off in those circumstances… I think that was more relieving than anything else.”
The Brit returned to the cage just months later, successfully defending his title against Blaydes. Aspinall was seemingly set to fight Jones this year, but the American stunned the MMA community by announcing his retirement. Aspinall, 32, was promoted to undisputed champion and will defend his gold belt for the first time on Saturday night against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi.
When is Tom Aspinall vs Ciryl Gane?
Aspinall’s showdown with Gane is set to take place on October 25 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The pair’s clash will headline the UFC 321 pay-per-view card. Alexander Volkov and Jailton Almeida will also compete at the event – seemingly for the number one heavyweight contender spot.
A light-heavyweight showdown between Aleksandar Rakic and Azamat Murzakanov has also been announced, while Mitch Raposo will take on Azat Maksum. The co-main event sees Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern going head-to-head for the vacant women’s strawweight title. The broadcast of the preliminary card will be available for TNT Sports subscribers to watch on TNT Sports 4 and on TNT Sports Box Office for anyone to watch in the UK and Ireland from 5pm (12pm ET / 9am PT / 11am CT).
The main card is scheduled to get underway at 7pm UK time (2pm ET / 11am PT / 1pm CT). In the main event, expect Gane to make the walk to the cage first at around 9:30pm UK time (4:30pm ET / 1:30pm PT / 3:30pm) with Aspinall to follow immediately after. The timings of all fights are subject to change and will depend on how long the undercard takes to complete. Fans in the UK and Ireland can watch the main card exclusively live on TNT Sports Box Office at a cost of £19.99.
