UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has his next fight

"Meetings have been done and I now have a fight," Aspinall said. "We've got a date, we've got an opponent to work towards."

After nearly a year of inactivity, Aspinall's clarity leaves him excited about what comes next.

Tom Aspinall Lays Out Lofty Goals

‘I'd like to do four [fights] in the next 12 months," Aspinall said. "If you look at the Top 10, I have beaten six of them. My goal is to beat 10 of the Top 10. I wanna beat all 10.’

Aspinall is focused on the present, not the past. With former UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones retired, Aspinall said recently he wants to be the focus of the division, with zero regard for the aforementioned Jones.

"I'm done with that with now, and I'm ready to move on," Aspinall told Ariel Helwani. "I've been talking about Jon Jones, I was happy to talk about Jon Jones to get the fight, and now the fight is not there, so I'm just like, 'Let's just move on.'"

Aspinall did not hint at an opponent, but rumblings have begun to suggest Ciryl Gane as the next challenger - despite him already having two failed attempts at winning a world title.

"I cared about the heavyweight title," Aspinall said regarding the Jones' saga. "That's all I've ever been bothered about, recognition for being the best heavyweight walking around planet Earth, so I'm just relieved that I can just fight again."

With Aspinall's recent update, a soon-to-be title defense is inevitable, alongside a new era in one of MMA's most prominent divisions.

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