The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the pinnacle of mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion. Up-and-coming fighters and seasoned professionals dream of stepping into the famous Octagon and competing against elite-level combat sports experts. For most, that dream remains as such, but Britain’s Tom Aspinall is not like most MMA athletes. He is top drawer and currently ranked among the top ten in the UFC‘s pound-for-pound rankings.
What Are Pound-For-Pound Rankings?
Pound-for-pound rankings are a system that combat sports use to determine the best fighter. Fighters are categorized into weight classes, so you will never see a lightweight face a heavyweight. These rankings imagine a hypothetical matchup between fighters, using numerous factors like their record, the strength of their opponents, knockout power, and overall performance to determine who is the best overall.
Tom Aspinall’s Rise Through the Ranks
Now 32 years old, Tom Aspinall has been fighting for 14 years. As an 18-year-old amateur, Aspinall posted a record of nine wins and no defeats, with eight victories coming by way of knockout. These days, Aspinall often finds himself as a short-priced favorite with UFC online sport betting sites whenever he competes under the UFC spotlights.
Aspinall had seven professional fights between December 2014 and June 2016, winning five and losing two. He took a two-and-a-half-year break from competitive MMA before signing a five-fight contract with Cage Warriors, turning down a UFC contract because he felt he was not ready.
However, after defeating Kamil Bazelak and Sofiane Boukichou in the first round, he signed up for the UFC.
Aspinall made his UFC debut at UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till in July 2020. He defeated Jake Collier by TKO in only 45 seconds, earning him the Performance of the Night bonus and setting the tone for future clashes.
Three of Aspinall’s next four UFC fights ended in the opening round. Alan Baudot, Serghei Spivac, and Alexander Volkov were dispatched during the first round. Only Andrei Arlovski managed to survive more than one round; he submitted to a rear-naked choke 69 seconds into Round 2 of their clash.
Disaster Strikes Before an Explosive Comeback
Image courtesy of Tom Aspinall’s Instagram
July 23, 2022, was a night for Aspinall to forget. His fight with Curtis Blaydes at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Aspinall was going to be the Brit’s most challenging test of his career to date. If Aspinall had come out on top, it would have paved the way for a heavyweight title shot.
The eagerly anticipated fight was over as quickly as it began. Aspinall tore his medial collateral ligament 15 seconds into the bout and had to forfeit the fight on medical terms. In a Sky Sports interview, Aspinall admitted he considered hanging up his gloves but instead decided to push onto the next level.
“I came to the conclusion that I really do want to do it; I’ve spent my whole life trying to get to this point. I’m working for what I’ve got right now, and I’ve sacrificed so much for it. And if I want to do it, I want to do it properly. I don’t want to half-ass it anymore. I want to go all in, and I’m really, really motivated not to be that guy who falls over after 15 seconds with a bad knee. I’m the future UFC heavyweight champion, and nothing is going to stop me right now.”
Thankfully, Aspinall’s knee recovered, and he returned to action almost precisely one year to the day after his injury. Marcin Tybura was Aspinall’s opponent. Like most who stand before the Salford-born warrior, Tybura was flat on the canvas within the first round, within 73 seconds.
Four months later, Aspinall faced Sergei Pavlovich for the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 295 due to Jon Jones‘ facing some time on the sidelines following a pectoral injury that required surgery. One minute and nine seconds into the battle, a flurry of punches from Aspinall knocked out Pavlovich, securing the interim title.
Aspinall last fought in July 2024, doing so against Blaydes at UFC 304 in a rematch of the ill-fated fight two years earlier. Aspinall made short work of Blaydes, knocking him out after one minute, earning himself his seventh Performance of the Night bonus from nine UFC contests. The comeback was complete.
Where Does Aspinall Rank Among the Current UFC Greats?
Aspinall is currently ranked second in the heavyweight division, with only the legendary Jon Jones, the reigning UFC Heavyweight Champion, ranked higher than him. Regarding the coveted pound-for-pound rankings, the UFC put Aspinall in tenth place ahead of iconic UFC figures Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway.
Although Aspinall has some way to go before he reaches the top of the UFC pound-for-pound rankings, most feel it is a matter of when, not if, he climbs into the top five and, perhaps one day, to the summit.
He is already tied with Donald Cerrone, Ovince Saint Preux, and Conor McGregor for the fourth most Performance of the Night bonuses in UFC history despite only fighting nine times. Aspinall currently has the shortest average fight time (2:02), the second most knockdowns per 15 minutes (4.09), the second highest number of significant strikes landed per minute (8.07), and the largest striking differential (5.18) in UFC history.
Should “The Honey Badger” continue in this form and on his current trajectory, it should not be long before he leap-frogs Brazilian duo Alexandre Pantoja and Alex Perreira and climbs above Belal Muhammad and Magomed Ankalaev.
Once Aspinall is knocking on the door of the top five, there will be no stopping him. Such luminaries as Dricius du Plessis, Merab Dvalishvili, Ilia Topuria, Jon Jones, and current number one Islam Makhachev better keep looking over their shoulders because a 6-foot-5 British powerhouse has them in his sights.
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