Tom Aspinall refused to organise an after-party for his UFC London fight with Alexander Volkov as he expected a trip to the hospital.
Aspinall made quick work of Volkov in the English capital last weekend, submitting the Russian in the first round with a straight armbar and improving to 5-0 in the UFC. The 28-year-old has since moved up to No.6 in the heavyweight rankings after the win.
Volkov entered his main event clash with Aspinall on the back of a decision win against Marcin Tybura. The heavyweight giant hadn't been submitted in over a decade, but Aspinall took him to the ground with ease and quickly locked up his arm to force a tap.
The event marked the promotion's first return to London in over three years, so it's unsurprising that Aspinall was questioned by fans about an after party following his fight. But the UFC star admitted he expected Volkov to leave him battered and bruised after five rounds.
"I expected it to go five [rounds]. There was so many people coming to support me, flying in from other countries that sort of stuff," he told Mirror Fighting . "People asked me 'what are you doing about the after party', but I purposely didn't book an after party cause I was pretty sure I was gonna be in the hospital after the fight.
"I knew I was going to win the fight, but I was pretty sure I'd have some broken bones or some stitches, something that would hold me back from attending an after party. So I'm pretty happy the fight was over that quick, but I was ready to do five rounds.
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"He tends to cut his opponents a lot. He's so long and he's got a lot of weights behind his punches as well. Even though he's not really a concussive one-punch knockout kind of guy, he hits the target really well and accurately so he cuts his opponents faces a lot. I was pretty sure I'd have a few cuts right now, but thankfully not."
After experiencing the buzz of a home crowd, Aspinall wants to return to the cage when the UFC hosts another event in the UK. He called out Tai Tuivasa for his next opponent, who jumped up to No.3 in the rankings last month after knocking out Derrick Lewis.
Aspinall admitted he is a big fan of the knockout artist Tuivasa. 'Bam Bam' is known for being pleasing a crowd with his 'shoey' celebration in which he drinks beer out of a shoe after winning a fight.
