Dana White Eyes Aspinall’s Next Bout; Massive England PPV Teased
Dana White plans to have Tom Aspinall fight very soon to keep the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion active.
Aspinall’s last fight was at UFC 295 last year. He joined the card after the headline event featuring Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic was called off. Bones suffered a pectoral muscle injury in sparring. Aspinall was brought in as the co-main event attraction against Sergei Pavlovich. Meanwhile, Jiri Prochazka took on Alex Pereira in the main event.
Aspinall knocked out Pavlovich in the first round, giving him consecutive first-round KO wins after having done the same against Marcin Tybura. Aspinall requested that the UFC strip Jones so he could face Miocic for the title. The winner would then take on Jones.
Dana White refused to do so, leaving Aspinall with a choice to defend his interim belt or wait on the sidelines. But given that Aspinall has only had two rounds since his serious knee injury against Curtis Blaydes in 2022, White wants to keep the Brit active.
White Reacts
“Jones is set to fight Stipe. I hope that the winner of that fight, will fight Tom. Yeah, we’ll see [about it potentially happening in England], I agree… Well, yeah. If you think right now, it’s March, who knows [what will happen]? With Jon Jones and Stipe, because of the injury, who knows when they’ll fight. It’s not right to let Tom sit. If Tom wants to defend the title, we will absolutely do it,” White said
This is part of a wider plan for a huge UFC card in England. White announced that the UFC will return to England this year, suggesting it could happen in July. The CEO of the UFC did not confirm any fights, but his comments suggested that Aspinall and Leon Edwards could be there.
Edwards is coming off a win against Colby Covington at UFC 297 as he defended his UFC Welterweight Title. The win was all the more important, given the bad blood in the build-up to the fight. Both men could now fight in England next.
Huge PPV Card
“I have an English heavyweight champion and lots of other European stars. Two champs now out of England. That’s another thing that was happening just recently, so we have these teams that build all their different pieces to the puzzle. Then we come together with me and I start trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together and I’m like this doesn’t fit here, that’s got to go. That’s how it all works.
“We had these fights where it’s like we’re going to do this where? No, we’re going to England. So we’re going to England. We’re coming and I got great fights lined up for the U.K. fans and I’m excited to get back there. Literally days [away from announcing the event]. We’re right there working on stuff. [It will be a] numbered card, pay-per-view. A great one,” White stated
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