Tom Aspinall racked up an impressive 73 second TKO finish against Marcin Tybura last night in London, England and then laid out his plan to fight his way to a heavyweight title shot.
“I’ll tell you exactly what I’m going to do,” Aspinall told Michael Bisping in the Octagon after his victory. “I’m going to Paris. I’m going to be sat from row for Ciryl Gane against Sergey Spivak. I’m going to beat the winner and then I’m going to beat Jon Jones.”
As it happens both Gane and Jones heard Aspinall’s call-out and have since responded.
“Great performance Tom, careful what you wish for,” Gane replied on Twitter. “See you in Paris 😉.”
“Sounds good LOL,” Jones wrote.
Aspinall was told of Jones response during a backstage interview following the event and seemed enthused by his response, joking that, “he knows I exist, that’s progress anyway.”
Jones had been hinting in recent times that his upcoming fight against Stipe Miocic could be his last, and had previously shown little appetite for facing current No.1 contender Sergei Pavlovich despite his six 1st round finishes in a row, so the fact that ‘Bones’ didn’t completely shut down Aspinall’s idea was definitely a bonus.
However, some fans are already calling for Aspinall to fight Pavlovich next instead, and it’s not a match-up he’s shying away from if that’s what happens.
“I like that as well,” Aspinall told Laura Sanko when asked about that potential match-up. “I was matched up with Pavlovich twice before, so it’s not like I’m unprepared to take the fight. Pavlovich hit’s like an absolute truck, he’s very very dangerous, but so am I. So, we can do that.”
