Tom Aspinall fired back at Henry Cejudo over the recent comments made about Aspinall’s celebration at UFC 295.
Aspinall won the UFC interim title this past Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 295, knocking out Sergei Pavlovich. Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC), who had taken the fight on short notice, was very emotional and collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by emotions from his KO win.
Well, Cejudo, who’s a former two-division UFC champion, had a few things to say about Aspinall’s reaction.
“Watching Tom Aspinall win the interim world title, he’s already celebrating, it’s an interim, Tom,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “Save those tears for when you actually win the real belt. Sometimes, when I see people like that, they just get too emotional after an interim belt. Yeah, you got a trophy, but they might as well dip that thing in either silver or bronze because it’s not the real thing. I mean that with all due respect.
“Sometimes I wonder, as a competitor, I start to think about their mentalities. How is it or what is it that makes them, has he thought that he’s reached the pinnacle of the world? I’m not picking on you, Tom. I’m just saying to you, save those tears for when you actually own the undisputed title.”
Speaking with Michael Bisping, Aspinall responded to Cejudo’s comments. The Englishman was unbothered by what Cejudo had to say, but did take a few jabs in the process.
“It doesn’t matter to me what he says, he’s about 5’3,” Aspinall said. “If he’s talking, I probably won’t hear him because of how far away he is from me. So yeah, it doesn’t matter. He’s trying to get headlines, isn’t he? He’s trying to get headlined, obviously.”
Aspinall, who doesn’t have a relationship with Cejudo, went on to explain what kind of criticism does bother him.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Aspinall said. “What bothers me is when someone I know has an issue, and they got my number, but they want to go online to beef it up. If you got an issue and got some questions, give me a ring. You know what I mean. I mean in general. That’s when it annoys me, when it’s people that I know. When it’s strangers, I couldn’t care less. I couldn’t care less.”
Tom Aspinall on Henry Cejudo’s criticism of UFC interim title celebration: ‘Doesn’t matter to me’