Tom Aspinall’s career could have been very different in 2016 had he decided to ditch MMA for boxing.
Aspinall has experienced a rapid rise in MMA, flying up through the ranks to become one of the best heavyweight UFC fighters of all time in just four years.
The Salford-born star defended his interim UFC Heavyweight Championship title on Saturday night after knocking Curtis Blaydes out in the first round in front of a home crowd.
But a conversation in 2016 alongside Tommy Fury, just 17 years old at the time, saw him make a crucial decision over what sport to pursue as an up-and-coming boxer.
Speaking with Kugan Cassius of IFL TV, Aspinall revealed that he was readying to make the move from MMA to boxing.
He went into detail about why he made the decision because he was struggling to find fighters and wanted the big bucks.
Just 23 at the time and sat next to a baby-faced Fury before his Love Island fame, Aspinall said in the gym: “Yeah, that’s right, it’s not my first day.
“I’ve actually been coming quite a bit to do the sparring, but it’s my first day that I’ve decided to focus solely on boxing, but it’s time to learn the trade now.
“I’ve been doing MMA for a long time. I’ve been struggling to make it pay financially and just not getting many rewards from it because I’m struggling to get fights, so it’s time to switch over and do the boxing.”
Aspinall had close ties to the Fury family, who are also from the Manchester area, and he was being coached by Peter Fury at the time, who is Tyson Fury’s uncle.
It was Peter who was credited with getting Tyson into boxing instead of his father John and Aspinall had high praise for the coach.
“I’ve gelled with Peter (Fury) well,” he added.
“My MMA coach Colin (Heron) has taught me a lot when it comes to boxing, but it’s time to learn just the art of boxing now so first day switching over.”
Seven months after the interview went live, Aspinall took part in his first ever professional boxing match which started with a bang – literally.
He knocked Tamas Bajzath out in one minute and 24 seconds and it looked like he had a top future in the sport of boxing.
However, this would turn out to be Aspinall’s first and last boxing match as he changed his mind and returned to the world of MMA.
It saw the Englishman end his three-year hiatus from the octagon, signing with Cage Warriors and securing back-to-back first-round TKO wins.
It did not take long before the UFC became involved and Aspinall signed for the American mixed martial arts promotion company shortly after.
Making his debut in July 2020 in Abu Dhabi, he earned the performance of the night with another first-round TKO win over Jake Collier.
That was before making light work of Andrei Arlovski, Serghei Spivac, and Alexander Volkov before injury heartbreak saw him lose to Blaydes after just 15 seconds, his first UFC loss in July 2022.
He was told his career might be over but managed to bounce back almost a year to the day to beat Martin Tybura in just over a minute and has since exacted his revenge on Blaydes with a dominating display in Manchester on Saturday.
News Summary:
- Resurfaced video of Tom Aspinall with Tommy Fury emerges as he pondered boxing career decision
- Check all news and articles from the latest Football updates.