As 17,081 fans in the O2 Arena nearly dragged the domed venue into the River Thames amid scenes of joyous chaos, Tom Aspinall remained the calmest man in the building.
He had a greater claim than anyone to indulge in the carnage at UFC London, having sparked those scenes with a first-round submission of Alexander Volkov, but Aspinall was able to take in the “madness” rather than be overawed by it.
“I know that a couple of people who came to watch me got pepper-sprayed for jumping on top of a police car, so that was pretty good,” Aspinall says. “It was just absolutely wild, but I’m more comfortable in that madness than with nobody there. I want the madness. I don’t ever want to fight with no fans there again.”
Of all of the qualities the Wigan heavyweight displayed in the UFC London main event – Aspinall’s first headline bout in the promotion, and first UFC contest with fans present – he has received more credit for his composure than for anything else. The sharpness of his striking, the timing of his takedowns, the way in which the 28-year-old effortlessly combined the two; all those attributes were startlingly impressive, but his calmness enabled their application.
“I don’t think that composure is something I’ve always had, I’ve had to work on it big time,” Aspinall says. “I think it’s basically just hours and hours of visualisation. I feel like I’ve been there a million times before, even though it was my first time main-eventing. I felt so calm and relaxed.
“I just have a very clear vision of what I want to do and how I’m gonna do it. I don’t know why the vision’s so clear, I can’t really explain that, but I can just be walking down the street, listening to music, daydreaming it and seeing it like it’s actually happening.”
Aspinall (12-2) mentally prepares for adversity, too, it’s just that he’s yet to have encountered much of it. Every one of the heavyweight’s victories – in and out of the UFC – have come via first or second-round stoppage, and veteran Volkov was unable to provide any greater resistance than the majority of Aspinall’s other opponents.
“I visualise [the bad things] as well,” Aspinall admits. “Obviously you think about getting knocked out, cut, dropped, being in chokes, being tired. It’s something that you just have to accept is going to happen, and try not to panic when you’re in that situation.
“Even though you can’t replicate being in a cage in front of 20,000 people without actually doing it, I put myself in uncomfortable spots all the time. Like, I put myself in an ice bath every day to get used to being comfortable in an uncomfortable position.”
So far, Aspinall has looked very comfortable in the Octagon, going 5-0 in the UFC with a string of early finishes, his victory over Volkov catapulting him from 11th to sixth in the heavyweight rankings.
“I’m not the best boxer in the division, the best kickboxer, the best wrestler, the best jiu-jitsu guy,” Aspinall insists, “but I am the best at mixing it all up. That’s for sure. People completely freeze in there, because they’ve got no idea what I’m going to do.”
Aspinall’s performances and results have been so emphatic that many fans and pundits are already calling for the 28-year-old to be granted a fight for the interim title, with champion Francis Ngannou recovering from surgery and engaged in a contract dispute with the UFC that could see the Cameroonian leave the promotion altogether.
In fact, there is an almost unanimous opinion within the sport that Aspinall is a future champion.
“I would say, ‘Slow down a little bit, lads,’ because I’m only just starting off in this thing,” Aspinall says. “Let’s not run before we can walk. There’s gonna be a lot of fights that I’ve got over the years, I’m going to fight [Ngannou] eventually, so let me give myself the best chance and get as much experience as I can before then.
“The lower ranked, the better for me. I ain’t trying to fight for a title yet; I want two more at least. A few people might say [I deserve a title shot], but I don’t think I do. It doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks, if I don’t think I’m ready. When I think I deserve it, I’ll push for it. Until then, I’ll keep getting experience.”
Aspinall is keen on gaining experience against Tai Tuivasa next, having called out the Australian immediately after stopping Volkov.
Like Aspinall, fan favourite Tuivasa is on a five-fight win streak of first and second-round finishes. Most recently, the 29-year-old knocked out Derrick Lewis last month, finishing the American with a cruel elbow in the former title challenger’s home state of Texas.
“I’m a big fan of Tai’s and I know what he brings to the table,” Aspinall says. “He brings a lot of fans with him and I love the fans, too. And I just think: How can that fight not be fireworks? Me and him in the UK, that would be absolutely unbelievable, so we need to make it happen.”
Having headlined the first edition of UFC London in three years – the highest-grossing sporting event in O2 Arena history and the highest-grossing in Fight Night history – Aspinall is adamant that he will not return to the Octagon in the near future unless it is once again set up in a UK venue.
“I ain’t going to America again or anywhere else, when the UFC are coming back here with those fans,” he says. “There’s no chance; I’m gonna wait it out and fight in the UK. We deserve to have the UK rocking in our country, there’s so many of us now representing the UK at the highest level. This is where the UFC should be.”
Aspinall, it seems, should be at the top of the heavyweight division. He likely will be very soon. For a man so intent on taking his time to climb the rankings, he is not spending much time in the ring.
Whether Aspinall likes it or not, he might find himself in a UFC heavyweight title fighter sooner rather than later.
