Tom Aspinall has given a massive hint at who he wants his next opponent to be.
Following Alex Pereira’s brutal KO of Jamahal Hill in the UFC 300 main event, the current interim heavyweight champion posted a cryptic photo of himself staring at the Brazilian as he made his Las Vegas Octagon-walk.
The British MMA star posted the photo to Instagram without a caption, fuelling speculation that Pereira is the man he wants next.
The post came after Poatan made clear his desire to step up to the heavyweight division in the very near future.
During his post-fight interview, the Brazilian outlined his ambition fight at heavyweight on the Rio de Janeiro card in his home country next month.
“I’m injury free. I want to fight in Brazil. I know it’s a short time, but let’s see what happens … I know there needs to be promotion for a title fight, so I don’t care, let me do a fight at heavyweight (at UFC 301),” he said.
Pereira is already a two-division UFC champion, but it seems his eyes are firmly on becoming the first fighter in the promotion’s history to hold titles in three different weight classes.
Such a move could set up a colossal showdown with Aspinall, which both fighters have previously talked about.
Aspinall’s latest Instagram post would suggest he’s down for the scrap but Pereira is keeping his cards close to his chest.
The Brazilian was asked about Aspinall’s cryptic photo in his post-fight press conference but remained coy.
He said: “I don’t know man, only he can respond to that.
“I’m not going to give names right here, I said I wanna fight at heavyweight so why would I choose [the opponent].”
Recently, Aspinall has appeared to move on from awaiting the winner of Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic, mentioning Curtis Blaydes as a possible opponent for the rumoured UFC card in Manchester in July.
However, Pereira’s desire to move up to heavyweight could change those plans with a potential heavyweight showdown in Rio next month too attractive to turn down.
Fight fans are seemingly down for the bout and suggested it’s ‘the next fight to make.’
“That’s the next fight to make,” one fan posted.
“Poatan looked so big at middleweight, he moved to light heavyweight & still looks bigger than the lot of their fighters.
“Give him Aspinall before Jones fights Miocic, retires & drops the belt.”
News Summary:
- Alex Pereira responds to cryptic Tom Aspinall post after calling for heavyweight fight in three weeks following emphatic UFC 300 win
- Check all news and articles from the latest Football updates.