Tom Aspinall admits he doubted himself before huge career-defining UFC fight

Aspinall reveals when he finally realized his potential in the UFC

Unfortunately for the British champion, he debuted in the UFC during what was arguably the toughest period in sports, ever.

In 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to all major sporting events and promotions, but the UFC decided to continue running events from the confines of the Apex.

Although it turned out to be an extremely fruitful period for the UFC, it was a unique and difficult experience for many of the fighters, as they were competing in front of no fans.

And Aspinall was one of them, as he made his promotional debut in July 2020 against Jake Collier. He went on to put a stamp on his debut, knocking Collier out with the first minute of the fight.

Attempting to stay active, the 32-year-old’s next three fights also took place in the UFC Apex in front of no fans, making it difficult for him to really gauge the UFC experience.

However, after three more impressive finishes, Aspinall was handed his first main event opportunity in 2022 in the promotion’s return to London for the first time since the pandemic.

“I think the (Andrei) Arlovski fight (was the turning point), maybe not (actually), no, Arlovski, then I fought (Serghei) Spivac,” Aspinall began to explain when he realized he was destined for greatness during the ShxtsnGigs Podcast.

“When I did my first main event in London, o2 Arena, so I had four UFC fights in the pandemic. Now, you’ve got to remember in the pandemic there’s as many people watching (in person) as there are as many people in this room.

“It was really weird for me because I didn’t realize how known I was because we were in lockdown for like two years, so I wasn’t getting any fan interactions on the street and I didn’t know what it was all about.

“The most amount of people I fought in front of was like 1000 people and then we were going from that to I think it’s 22,000 and I was main eventing, my first main event. I was like, ‘I don’t know how I’m gonna get on with that amount of pressure’.

“I went out there and just schooled him and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m pretty alright at this, I can do this.’,” he continued.

Could we still see Aspinall vs Jones?

If Aspinall walks out of Abu Dhabi victorious, there is seemingly still potential that we may see the Brit take on the consensus greatest of all time, Jones.

‘Bones’ continues to campaign for an inclusion on the upcoming White House event, despite Dana White claiming that he won’t include him on the card.

However, the UFC president may not be able to say no if Aspinall successfully defends his title, making a potential fight against Jones even bigger.