LONDON – Tom Aspinall says he’s good to go.
The UFC heavyweight contender revealed he’s now recovered from his knee injury sustained in his last outing. Aspinall (12-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) had to undergo surgery last year after tearing his MCL and meniscus, as well as suffering damage to his ACL, in a TKO loss to Curtis Blaydes last July at UFC Fight Night 208. It was a freak injury, as the British fighter blew out his knee 15 seconds into the bout.
Now healthy, Aspinall wants to return to the crime scene and resume his career.
“The knee is fantastic now,” Aspinall said at the Q&A hosted on Thursday, part of the UFC 286 fight week. “I’m back in training. Hey, listen. I just want to get one thing straight. We need to secure another U.K. card for this year, and I got that big Polish dummy calling me out online. So if Marcin Tybura wants it, let’s bring it back to the U.K. this summer. Come on, please.”
Prior to the unfortunate injury, Aspinall was on a hot streak. He had eight consecutive wins, with five of those being under the UFC banner.
The 29-year-old was nearing a title shot entering his bout against Curtis Blaydes last summer, and he wants to get back on track. That’s why the bout against Marcin Tybura makes the most sense for him.
“Well at the moment, there are not many free guys in the top 10, everyone is matched,” Aspinall explained. “As far as I can see, he’s the only guy who’s willing to take the fight. He said it verbally. And if someone says publicly that they want to fight me, of course I want to fight. I’m not backing down from no one. We’re two European guys, let’s do it in the U.K.”
