Michael Bisping has made bold predictions about Tom Aspinall’s immediate future and his career.
Aspinall (13-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) faces Sergei Pavlovich (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) for the interim heavyweight title in Saturday’s UFC 295 co-main event at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.
Since returning from knee surgery, Aspinall ran through Marcin Tybura in just over a minute this past July – notching his 12th career first-round stoppage. Pavlovich also has been dispatching his opponents early, scoring six consecutive first-round knockouts. But Bisping sees Aspinall taking Pavlovich down quickly and finishing him on the mat.
“Tom Aspinall once again is going to make this look easy,” Bisping said on the TNT Sports UFC 295 preview show. “He’s going to make this look easy. He’s going to jab him, then he’s going to level change, he’s going to take him down, and he will finish him. First round.”
Bisping previously said UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones doesn’t hold a candle to Aspinall, a statement he stands by. He even went as far as to say Aspinall will cement himself as the best heavyweight in UFC history.
“I do believe (Aspinall) beats (Pavlovich). I believe he makes it look relatively easy, and that’s not disrespect to Sergei,” Bisping said. “It’s because of how capable Tom is. And I think the skillset that he has, he’s got all the ingredients to get him the win here. I think he beats him. I think he beats Jon Jones if that comes up, and I think he dominates the heavyweight division for quite some time, and he will retire as the greatest heavyweight champion that the UFC has ever seen. I’m serious.
“I’ve always said this about Tom, and after Marcin Tybura, I said in the post-fight show, I said Jon Jones couldn’t hold a candle to Tom Aspinall, and people came after me online, and I understand why. This is Jon Jones. Maybe there was a little bit of recency bias from how devastatingly easy he beat Marcin Tybura, but he does that every time. Every time.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.