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

Why would Aspinall, who is likely making 25k/25k want to fight the monsters in the top 10 when he can fight out his current contract possibly remaining undefeated in the UFC?

If he gets to (6-0) I believe he would be able to renegotiate his contract again to potentially 50-75k to show. Some folks on here who are so focused on fighter pay do not understandt the only way your compensation goes up is if you win; every time you win your fight purse goes up. So why not rack up wins and make sure you are making good money before you put yourself in harms way against the top 10?

This is what someone who has total confidence in their abilities does and it is very telling. The fans might want to see him go fight for a title ASAP, but Aspinall knows if he takes his time getting there when he does it will be worth even more.

And he also knows he has never been out of the second round and needs more in-cage experience before taking on the Ciryl Ganes and Alexander Volkovs of the division; the guy wants to be ready once he gets there.

Respect to him.
 
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.
Aspinall looks to be legit enough that he will probably beat every guy on his way to a title fight just like Gane and Ngannou did. A fighter like that, you want to develop them as a storyline and fighter.

O’Malley will drop more fights for sure if given the boxing arc. So you have to give him lower level fights. And then maybe a Conor style title shot based off nothing at some point.
 
Aspinall looks to be legit enough that he will probably beat every guy on his way to a title fight just like Gane and Ngannou did. A fighter like that, you want to develop them as a storyline and fighter.

O’Malley will drop more fights for sure if given the boxing arc. So you have to give him lower level fights. And then maybe a Conor style title shot based off nothing at some point.
Gane had his first pro fight in 2018
Francis his first in 2013 with title shot 5 years later
Tom is on year 8 of his pro career from 2014 and saying he needs to take it slow lol (while having 3 kids)
OMalley younger than all of them with more pro fights since starting in 2015 (and I think he is a tool dont get me wrong)

I'm guessing they retire Oliynyk or Rothwell with Tom next
 
Why would Aspinall, who is likely making 25k/25k want to fight the monsters in the top 10 when he can fight out his current contract possibly remaining undefeated in the UFC?

If he gets to (6-0) I believe he would be able to renegotiate his contract again to potentially 50-75k to show. Some folks on here who are so focused on fighter pay do not understandt the only way your compensation goes up is if you win; every time you win your fight purse goes up. So why not rack up wins and make sure you are making good money before you put yourself in harms way against the top 10?

This is what someone who has total confidence in their abilities does and it is very telling. The fans might want to see him go fight for a title ASAP, but Aspinall knows if he takes his time getting there when he does it will be worth even more.

And he also knows he has never been out of the second round and needs more in-cage experience before taking on the Ciryl Ganes and Alexander Volkovs of the division; the guy wants to be ready once he gets there.

Respect to him.
These numbers are so weak too.

If he can bring an extra 2000 fans to some arena in England @$100 spent per fan on UFC stuff (tickets, tv buys, merch, concessions etc...) that's $200,000 minimum in value.
 
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.
Agreed. I didn’t initially think about how much of his response to criticism was basically about money and not his own legacy.
 
Ivanov has a chin of IRON

but..

I think GOATspinal can stop him...
 
Smart approach - if he feels he's not ready, best to take it slow. Not everyone is Cereal Gane.
What the fuck

The guys name is Surreal Gain. Stop the bullshit
 
I like his honesty. I for one think he is not ready for a top 5 maybe even top 10 HW. Good solid prospect.
 
Gane had his first pro fight in 2018
Francis his first in 2013 with title shot 5 years later
Tom is on year 8 of his pro career from 2014 and saying he needs to take it slow lol (while having 3 kids)
OMalley younger than all of them with more pro fights since starting in 2015 (and I think he is a tool dont get me wrong)

I'm guessing they retire Oliynyk or Rothwell with Tom next
Tbh I feel like either path is completely fine. I think that the rush to the title path has a higher guarantee that you will make good as money, whereas the slow build you’re saying that you’re willing to accept some risk that you fizzle out before real paydays in exchange for being a better fighter when the best paydays come.

I actually like this approach from Aspinall particularly because, while he’s very much got true heavyweight size, he doesn’t have that same level of top level brute thickness that Gane and Ngannou have. That kind of size is an extra piece of security.

Ngannou is a great example in that he’s at best a skilled brawler, but having the kind of strength and inertia has served him well throughout his career. When Blaydes was taking him down, he would just stand up like. Laydeez wasn’t even on him.
 
What’s funny is this is no different than O’Malley but said in a way more articulate and without bravado.
I mean, Aspinall's not out there famewhoring on streams and with rappers, getting needy clown hair cuts and tattoos. Not that I'm hating on Sean, but the dude, clearly, wants attention, so him taking it easy seems phoney.

Tommy here just seems like a working class dude just doing his job. So it seems more reasonable.

Anyways, they fast tracked Sean himself into a loss, Edmen, even Holland to some extent, Blaydes at similar age is written off by most fans cause of few TOP 10 losses. I get where this dude is coming from.
 
Tbh I feel like either path is completely fine. I think that the rush to the title path has a higher guarantee that you will make good as money, whereas the slow build you’re saying that you’re willing to accept some risk that you fizzle out before real paydays in exchange for being a better fighter when the best paydays come.

I actually like this approach from Aspinall particularly because, while he’s very much got true heavyweight size, he doesn’t have that same level of top level brute thickness that Gane and Ngannou have. That kind of size is an extra piece of security.

Ngannou is a great example in that he’s at best a skilled brawler, but having the kind of strength and inertia has served him well throughout his career. When Blaydes was taking him down, he would just stand up like. Laydeez wasn’t even on him.
The UFC will pay Aspinall more to take the slow path than others tho is what I'm saying because he is a sure-fire asset in certain markets of the world to sell tickets.
 
The UFC will pay Aspinall more to take the slow path than others tho is what I'm saying because he is a sure-fire asset in certain markets of the world to sell tickets.
Who knows. They seem extremely willing to fuck anyone silly enough to bend over for them. Generally the reward for yes men is they don’t get cut when they otherwise might be and get a lot of fights. Cerrone and Alvey are classic examples. I would guess that fighter pay, independent of charisma and ability to win, is probably more linked to how good their representation is.
 
He needs to fight some tough journeyman/gatekeeper type of opponents who might last a couple of rounds.

Unfortunately there's no prime Roy Nelson around.

You can't expect to keep blasting through everybody in the first round, even Ngannou didn't. The experience of getting into a few grappling exchanges and taking a few big punches is invaluable once you step up in competition.
 
I know this kind of humble BS is big on Sherdog, but it's going to cost him a lot of money. You always strike while the iron is hot. He could fight one or two top five guys next and then get a title shot, or he could fight four or five guys in the lower ranks who are just as good as anyone in the top five and risk losing it all. Pretty dumb in my opinion
 
15 minutes of good experience vs Blagoi. Then the winner of Shamil vs Daukaus as his first top 10 opponent.

Agreed but not Aspinal vs Daukus. Don’t risk losing one of the only 2 younger HW prospects we have
 
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