Tom Aspinall insists he has "a lot more work to do" before thinking about fighting for the UFC heavyweight title.
Since being signed to the UFC two years ago, Aspinall has racked up five consecutive wins by stoppage. He will look to make it six in a row on July 23 when he headlines the second UFC London event this year against Curtis Blaydes.
A win against Blaydes would push Aspinall into the top five of the division and with champion Francis Ngannou's future uncertain, the Brit could very well be in the mix for a shot at the belt. But Aspinall explained why he isn't interested in a title shot just yet.
“I’m not even interested in it,” he said on The MMA Hour. “I’m not. I never thought that I was going to be talking about a title after five UFC fights, six UFC fights. I feel like I’ve got more work to do. I’ve got a lot more work to do, more proving. I don’t want to be one of these people who gets here by talking. That is not me.”
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“Curtis Blaydes is probably the toughest fight in the division for me stylistically but I’m okay with that because that pushes me to a whole new level," he continued. "That pushes me to levels I’ve never been before, and that’s what I need."
Aspinall became the first person to submit MMA veteran Alexander Volkov in over a decade when they fought at The O2 arena in March. The buzz of a UFC event on home soil has put Aspinall off of competing in the US, as he is only keen on fighting in England for the time being.
He thinks a fighter of Blaydes' calibre will bring the best out of him, adding: "If I’m with someone that’s going to make me comfortable, I’m going to stay exactly where I am and do the exact same work that I’ve been doing. If you’re going to give me someone that I think is a scary fight and you’re going to give me fear, you don’t want to see me scared.
"I end up doing stuff like I did in the O2 the time I fought. I end up doing some crazy stuff that I’ve never done before. So me with a massive fight with a really tough guy, that’s dangerous. That’s dangerous for any heavyweight.”
