Alex isnt naturally a bigger guy like that though. he's bulking up. he competed at MW and LHW throughout his kickboxing career. that definitely matters.
i guess him fighting for the HW belt isnt the biggest deal; he defended the LHW belt three times so i get why they would give him a shot. Islam's doing the same thing at welterweight.
when did Ngannou say that? was it before Tom had won the interim? i just think Tom is too big naturally and is more comfortable moving around at that weight, whereas Alex has been a smaller guy for the majority of his life.
i just see the fight ending in an early submission for Tom if he doesnt get caught. Alex has good grappling for a guy who started doing that later in life but Tom's been doing it for far longer. and even if Tom does get caught, there's no guarantee Alex will still have the same power at heavyweight.
maybe im just a minority but i really dont care about Alex vs Tom.
I see it the opposite way... I think Alex vs Aspinall would go down like Alex vs Jiri Prochazka 1 ... While JJ vs Aspinall would go down like JJ vs Reyes (close fight but JJ pulls off a 3-2).
Ppl forget that Jiri destroyed Reyes... And the Jiri who faced Alex the 2nd time was better than the one who beat up Reyes. He admittedly was in great shape, coming off a big win vs Rakić. No one at the time Jiri beat Reyes would think Jon Jones would smoke Jiri Prochazka easily... And JJ and Tom are tied up in overall performances (both 1 round sub quick wins vs similar competition in Gane and Volkov). That goes to show that the HW talent pool isn't as good as LHW elites, who kept evolving. Reyes was bringing a new face to LHW, like Santos, who challenged JJ. He was like Aspinall, tho fans at the time didn't see it that way as they'd take JJ winning as a granted thing. Looking at Reyes' record tho, 14-0, most wins being round 1 quick KOs vs opponents whose win streak were above that Tom has faced except Pavlovich. The same for Jiri Prochazka.
Alex came in and dominated that era and lost to the best LHW in Ankalaev while fighting with Norovirus (which is backed up) and a fractured limb. Since he's naturally bigger than Jon Jones and can make 243 lbs without fatting up like Jon Jones, his power would translate even better there, just like it did when he went up to LHW and beat Jan, Jiri twice and Hill and Khalil (who's now #3 ranked)... His chin would hold up better since he wouldn't be cutting weight, his leg kicks would be more devastating with that size, as well. And he defended 12 TDs attempts from Anakalev while under the weather. Ankalaev trained Sambo in Dagestan since he was little. It obviously would be a bigger threat for Tom than any HW right now, just like Topuria would be a bigger threat for Islam than any lightweight... And honestly, to me, it's also a bigger threat to Tom than Jones would be. To JJ too, Alex would be a bigger threat than Tom IMO.
Ppl underestimate LHWs when in reality, whoever does well in a way more talented and complex division, is expected to do even better when moving up while having the weight of a up division, which Alex does... As the best LHW right now, Alex, having a fresh HW frame, Tom would be easier to him than dealing with complex LHWs like Ankalaev, whom he had a close fight with even while he was not in a good condition, fighting with Norovirus while coming off a 3 world tittle defense in 8 months in short time saving events and the 2024 year, vs the new LHW era... Which isn't anything to make little of, and the latest fight showed his grappling skills held up well enough vs someone whose takedown ability is >> Tom's (Ankalaev) even while Alex was fighting compromised. Not to mention , looking at Tom's recent video (he did a dead leg challenge vs YouTubers), Tom appears to have lost quite a bit of his weight... He isn't as big as he once was. And funnily enough, whenever he records these new videos of having fun with influencers, there's a Brazillian flag showing up in the gym he is in... Which is curious...
