
Tom Aspinall entered 2023 in the midst of uncertainty and recovery and left with UFC gold.
The most recent in-cage memory for fight fans as they flipped the calendar over from 2022 was Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) rolling around on the ground, holding his knee after an errant step blew out his MCL and meniscus, and damaged his ACL against Curtis Blaydes.