Tom Aspinall calls out Blagoy Ivanov rather than contender: ‘I’m not ready for those guys yet"

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Tom Aspinall cemented his status as one of the heavyweight division’s most intriguing young prospects with his highlight-reel knockout of Serghei Spivak at UFC Vegas 36.


The win pushed the 28-year-old Englishman’s UFC record to a perfect 4-0 with four stoppages, and likely could’ve propelled Aspinall into a fight against a top-10 contender. But Aspinall isn’t exactly jumping at the idea. Instead, he’d rather take his time and slowly work his way up the ranks before jumping into the shark tank that is the top of the UFC’s division.

“I need a lot more experience before I fight them guys,” Aspinall said at Saturday’s UFC Vegas 36 post-fight press conference. “I’m not ready for them guys yet.

“This doesn’t mean I’m not confident. This does not mean I’m not confident. This means I’m very confident in my ability, but I’m also confident that I need to be ready to beat these guys. So I’m not in a rush, I’ve just turned 28, I’ve got another 10 years and people better get used to seeing me around, because I ain’t going anywhere.”

Aspinall patient approach has paid off thus far. He dispatched the man ranked directly below in the UFC’s rankings, Spivak, with a thunderous flurry on Saturday and snatched his third post-fight bonus of his four octagon appearances. Afterward, Aspinall already had another name in mind — and true to his words, it was the man ranked directly above him in the UFC’s rankings, No. 12-ranked heavyweight Blagoy Ivanov.

“I just want to fight guys that are around my ranking. I believe in earning your title shot,” Aspinall said. “I don’t believe in the hype train pushing you to a title shot. I believe in earning it, so I want to fight the guy above me. Some guy who just interviewed me, he brought up Blagoy Ivanov — that’s a fight I would love. He’s a very durable guy, I have a lot of respect for him. He’s been around for a long time and he is so, so tough, and I want to see if my power and speed — I want to see how that does against someone like that.”

For what it’s worth, Aspinall is currently the No. 13-ranked heavyweight in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings. At the time of this writing, both Spivac and Ivanov are unranked.

But Aspinall knows he has time. He’s one of the youngest athletes in the sport’s oldest division in terms of average athlete age, and he’s getting better with every bout. And after fighting all four of his UFC appearances with either no crowd or a limited capacity crowd due to COVID restrictions, he hopes his next fight can be the one that introduces him to the thrills and pressure of competing on the biggest stages in the world in earnest.

“I want to fight in front of a crowd because I don’t know how I’m going to react with 20,000 people screaming, booing, throwing drinks, having a piss in a cup and throwing it. I don’t know how I’m going to react to that, I’ve never done that before,” Aspinall said.

“The most people I’ve fought in front of is 1,000, maybe 1,500. So I want that to be the next step of my career, is fighting in front of people, because I don’t want to be getting up to the top 10 and top 5 and I’ve never fought in front of anybody before. So when this London card was cancelled I was upset, because I’m not just in this thing to learn how to win fights and smash people and all that. I’m in this for that as well, but I’m also in this thing to learn about myself, and I don’t know how I’m going to react, so I’d like to do that next.”

https://www.mmafighting.com/platfor...&utm_source=twitter&__twitter_impression=true
 
That’s honestly a smart trajectory to follow at this point. Every win of Aspinall’s has been a finish, right? And I believe Ivanov has never been finished— at least not in the UFC.

If he finishes Ivanov he’s ready for a top 5 guy. If he doesn’t finish him it’ll be a nice way to grow with 15 minutes of experience.
 
That’s honestly a smart trajectory to follow at this point. Every win of Aspinall’s has been a finish, right? And I believe Ivanov has never been finished— at least not in the UFC.

If he finishes Ivanov he’s ready for a top 5 guy. If he doesn’t finish him it’ll be a nice way to grow with 15 minutes of experience.
I don't think he wants to make big jumps in rank like that. I think if he gets this fight he will be looking more at a top 7-10 ranked opponent should he win.
 
The UFC will push him faster than he wants so hope he stands his ground. Dude has crazy reaction time. While watching him fight last night, I was thinking his head movement was poor but then during some exchanges I was amazing buy his speed and reactions.
 
What’s funny is this is no different than O’Malley but said in a way more articulate and without bravado.
 
15 minutes of good experience vs Blagoi. Then the winner of Shamil vs Daukaus as his first top 10 opponent.

Nah, if Aspinall beats Blagoy he should fight the loser of Blaydes Rozenstruik.
Winner of Daukus Shamil should get Derrick Lewis since Shamil himself is a great top 15.

As a bonus, Augusto Sakai should fight Sergei Pavlovich.
 
1338328733.0.jpg


Tom Aspinall cemented his status as one of the heavyweight division’s most intriguing young prospects with his highlight-reel knockout of Serghei Spivak at UFC Vegas 36.


The win pushed the 28-year-old Englishman’s UFC record to a perfect 4-0 with four stoppages, and likely could’ve propelled Aspinall into a fight against a top-10 contender. But Aspinall isn’t exactly jumping at the idea. Instead, he’d rather take his time and slowly work his way up the ranks before jumping into the shark tank that is the top of the UFC’s division.

“I need a lot more experience before I fight them guys,” Aspinall said at Saturday’s UFC Vegas 36 post-fight press conference. “I’m not ready for them guys yet.

“This doesn’t mean I’m not confident. This does not mean I’m not confident. This means I’m very confident in my ability, but I’m also confident that I need to be ready to beat these guys. So I’m not in a rush, I’ve just turned 28, I’ve got another 10 years and people better get used to seeing me around, because I ain’t going anywhere.”

Aspinall patient approach has paid off thus far. He dispatched the man ranked directly below in the UFC’s rankings, Spivak, with a thunderous flurry on Saturday and snatched his third post-fight bonus of his four octagon appearances. Afterward, Aspinall already had another name in mind — and true to his words, it was the man ranked directly above him in the UFC’s rankings, No. 12-ranked heavyweight Blagoy Ivanov.

“I just want to fight guys that are around my ranking. I believe in earning your title shot,” Aspinall said. “I don’t believe in the hype train pushing you to a title shot. I believe in earning it, so I want to fight the guy above me. Some guy who just interviewed me, he brought up Blagoy Ivanov — that’s a fight I would love. He’s a very durable guy, I have a lot of respect for him. He’s been around for a long time and he is so, so tough, and I want to see if my power and speed — I want to see how that does against someone like that.”

For what it’s worth, Aspinall is currently the No. 13-ranked heavyweight in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings. At the time of this writing, both Spivac and Ivanov are unranked.

But Aspinall knows he has time. He’s one of the youngest athletes in the sport’s oldest division in terms of average athlete age, and he’s getting better with every bout. And after fighting all four of his UFC appearances with either no crowd or a limited capacity crowd due to COVID restrictions, he hopes his next fight can be the one that introduces him to the thrills and pressure of competing on the biggest stages in the world in earnest.

“I want to fight in front of a crowd because I don’t know how I’m going to react with 20,000 people screaming, booing, throwing drinks, having a piss in a cup and throwing it. I don’t know how I’m going to react to that, I’ve never done that before,” Aspinall said.

“The most people I’ve fought in front of is 1,000, maybe 1,500. So I want that to be the next step of my career, is fighting in front of people, because I don’t want to be getting up to the top 10 and top 5 and I’ve never fought in front of anybody before. So when this London card was cancelled I was upset, because I’m not just in this thing to learn how to win fights and smash people and all that. I’m in this for that as well, but I’m also in this thing to learn about myself, and I don’t know how I’m going to react, so I’d like to do that next.”

https://www.mmafighting.com/platfor...&utm_source=twitter&__twitter_impression=true


The man speaks truth ..

A fighters..fighter ..


Good to hear this
 
I think that's smart, but the UFC doesn't let guys do that for long if at all. If he really is serious about that, he should've waited to join the UFC.
 
What’s funny is this is no different than O’Malley but said in a way more articulate and without bravado.
I think one can compare the two because neither one is begging for a championship or eliminator level fight, but there’s a fundamental difference. Aspinall is looking for a slow upward trajectory toward the title to maximize his development. In contrast, O’Malley is just looking to maximize his earning potential on a fight by fight basis by hopefully fighting maximally winnable opponents.
 
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I think one can compare the two because neither one is begging for a championship or eliminator level fight, but there’s a fundamental difference. Aspinall is looking for a slow Howard trajectory toward the title to maximize his development. In contrast, O’Malley is just looking to maximize his earning potential on a fight by fight basis by hopefully fighting maximally winnable opponents.
Well that is because each has a different fanbase and value to the UFC too.

Aspinall is classic old "white hope" guy and the longer he can have an unblemished career the better when his demographics are more easily define by things like region where he can be of immense value selling tickets.

If he can put 2000 more people into an arena than the UFC could sell without him, @$100 per person (ticket plus concessions etc...) that's $200,000 of per-fight value right there.
Not to mention TV value etc...

This goes away to some extent if he gets starched before getting the full-court title shot press run and so forth.
A guy like O'Malley's demographic is much more disparate globally (random ppl on internet), but doesn't rely on some classical title run narrative, but a shock-jock route.
The UFC would have O'Malley in a title shot ASAP if they could, whereas with Aspinall he needs the keep a groundswell of live-event enthusiasm from finishing less dangerous opponents.
 
Nah, if Aspinall beats Blagoy he should fight the loser of Blaydes Rozenstruik.
Winner of Daukus Shamil should get Derrick Lewis since Shamil himself is a great top 15.

As a bonus, Augusto Sakai should fight Sergei Pavlovich.

Shamil is 7 in the rankings strangely. So the winner of him and Daukaus will be in and around that spot.
Tom is 13 and looks to be fighting 12. I just think it gives him the steady rise he is looking for. If he gets through those 2 he will be ready to fight a lower top 5 like maybe the Black Beast.

That could be the best path for him to get 3 fights more experience before Ngannou/Gane level fights.
 
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