Is Tom Aspinall feeling the pressure ahead of his first-ever undisputed heavyweight title defense?
After being promoted from interim to undisputed champion earlier this year following Jon Jones’ ‘retirement’ from the sport, Aspinall will put his gold on the line against perennial contender Ciryl Gane this Saturday night at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi.
Just hours away from fight night, Aspinall is a huge -375 favorite. That, in addition to a very public rivalry with Jon Jones and touted by many as the best heavyweight in the world, Aspinall could feel some serious pressure when he steps into the Octagon in Abu Dhabi.
“Forget the pressure put on him by Michael Bisping calling him the greatest British mixed martial artist of all time – Tom Aspinall is at one of the biggest pressure points in UFC history,” said play-by-play man Jon Anik. MMA fighting. The whole Jon Jones storyline reinforced it. He’s now the face of the division, he’s elite and a 4-to-1 favorite in the most unpredictable sport there is. If he loses, it will be seismic. But Tom eats as busy as a sandwich.’
Before being promoted from interim to undisputed, Aspinall was expected to face Jones in 2025 after ‘Bones’ finally settled his business with consensus heavyweight GOAT Stipe Miocic in November. Unfortunately, the battle would never come to fruition. Jones ultimately chose to walk away from the promotion, giving up his belt and leaving Aspinall to take the heavyweight throne unchallenged.
Gane, a former interim champion himself, will be hoping to end Aspinall’s reign before it begins.
Bon Gamin’ has already won the undisputed title twice, falling short against Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones. Will the third time be the charm for Gane, or will Aspinall pull off his biggest win yet and show the world that the hype is real?
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