Brit Tom Aspinall will give heavyweight belt to dad if he seals shock UFC 295 win that could set up dream Jon Jones bout
By Emily Bell
UFC TITLE hopeful Tom Aspinall admits the odds are stacked against him in his short-notice bid to become the third Brit to win a belt in MMA's top promotion.
Aspinall, 30, will look to claim the interim heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden in New York tomorrow morning in the co-main event of UFC 295 against Sergei Pavlovich.
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The Wigan warrior has had just TWO WEEKS to prepare for his first title shot but is confident of pulling off Mission Impossible and getting his hands on UFC gold.
He said: "I like that the odds are against me, I like that a lot.
"I'm fighting the scariest in MMA, in my opinion, in the worst circumstances without a training camp. But I think I can win.
"I'm not the kind of guy who shows up for money. I ain't signing up and showing up if I don't think I'm gonna win.
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"I truly, truly believe that I can win on Saturday night and that I'm going to win.
"I'm an absolute winner and I'll find a way to win, no matter what the circumstances."
Pavlovich, 31, has racked up six consecutive first-round knockouts since losing his Octagon debut to Alistair Overeem in November 2018.
And Aspinall doesn't plan to get involved in a long and drawn-out slugfest with the Russian wrecking machine.
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The dad of three said: “He is the most dangerous guy in the UFC, in my opinion, to get into a shootout with.
“To stand flatfooted with him and start trading, and have an ego competition with him, that's what a lot of the guys are doing with him.
"And that's not what I'm going to do.”
A unification fight against the winner of undisputed champion Jon Jones' rescheduled showdown with Stipe Miocic will await Aspinall should he be victorious in The Big Apple.
But he's refusing to entertain the prospect of fighting either Hall of Famer until after he gets his hands on the interim belt.
He said: "It's quite easy to put to the back of my mind as I've got this absolute massive Russian who is going to come at me on Saturday throwing absolute bombs.
"If I was to think past that, that would be a little bit silly. So I'm just thinking about Pavlovich right now. I'm not thinking about anything else."
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Aspinall has long dreamed of fighting at MSG but insists he won't let the magnitude of the occasion get to him.
"It's an iconic arena," he said. "It's the arena where every combat sports athlete wants to compete.
" Or at least I do. But at the end of the day, I'm going in there to do my job.
"And my job is to fight this big scary fella over there and I'm gonna give it my best go."
Aspinall will have dad and long-time trainer Andy in his corner for his date with destiny, which he hopes will end with wrapping the belt around his old man's waist.
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He said: "From the time I've been eight years old until me now being 30 years old, he's been there.
"It will mean everything for me to give him the title."
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