LONDON – Tom Aspinall thinks he’s firing on all cylinders ahead of his first main event on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 204.
Aspinall (11-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is radiating with confidence going into his clash with fellow heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov (34-9 MMA, 8-3 UFC), which takes place at The 02 and streams on ESPN+. Thus far the Brit has been flawless inside the octagon, and after putting in some hard preparation, he said his best version will show up on fight night.
“I think I’ve improved more this camp than I have in the last two years,” Aspinall told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 204 media day. “I feel so good. I feel in such a good place mentally. This is my focus. I’m enjoying it. I’m not even thinking about the result, to be honest. I’m not thinking about how I’m going to finish the fight. I could give a sh*t, to be honest. I’m just going to have the time of my life and just enjoy it.
Aspinall, 28, admits it took some time to mature into his current mental space. He was very vocal around his first pair of UFC fights that he wanted to take the slow and steady approach to climbing the ranks.
There’s no turning back at this point, though. Volkov is a former Bellator champion who has fought many of the best in the UFC heavyweight division, and this fight is going to show exactly where Aspinall stands.
“I got to the UFC and I used to think, ‘Oh these guys are so (good).’ They’re not, mate,” Aspinall said. “They’re another guy in front of you having another fight with a pair of gloves on, and I’m going to treat it that way. Don’t get me wrong: I took Volkov more serious than I took anyone else. But at the end of the day he’s another guy across from me with a pair of gloves on. Same as anybody else.”
“If I go in there and do me and I have fun, I can beat anyone in the world. If I go in there and overthink it and try to work to a strategy and do everything perfect, I can lose. So I’m just going to go in there and have the time of my life.”
Aspinall said he doesn’t know exactly where this win will put him in the division. He didn’t dismiss the idea of a matchup with former interim titleholder Ciryl Gane, but whatever it may be, Aspinall said he’ll be ready.
“These heavyweights think they know about me, but they don’t know sh*t,” Aspinall said. “Obviously I feel I’m ready for (anyone), so here we are. Moving forward and moving up in the world hopefully.”
