Tom Aspinall , a 6-foot-6 heavyweight, made a statement on hisUFC debut Sunday.- The 27-year-old landed every single one of his 10 strikes, dropping his opponent Jake Collier with a one-two finish.
- Aspinall then said he has been visualizing a route to the UFC championship.
- Watch the finish below.
Meet Tom Aspinall, a 6-foot-6 Englishman who barely broke a sweat in his MMA match at the Flash Forum in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
Aspinall brought a heavy-handed reputation with him to the Octagon, and an accurate and clubbing one-two punch combination brought his opponent Jake Collier to the canvas, where he then cowered on all fours, wanting the bout to be over.
Collier was barely in the fight, landing only three of nine strikes attempted. Aspinall, meanwhile, landed all 10 of his strikes — many of them meaningful, hurled with brute force.
Watch the fight-ending punches here:
—UFC (@ufc) July 25, 2020
Or here if you're in a different region:
—UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) July 25, 2020
"[UFC] Debut was amazing, it was exactly what I've seen in my mind the whole time," Aspinall said after his win, the eighth of his career.
"Went good, went amazing. I knew he is a little bit sloppy with his technique and he rushes in a little bit, so it was just what we practiced in the gym, timing my punches, not rushing, just taking my time a little bit and it worked well."
Aspinall then said he'd like to return within a couple months, challenged fellow "Fight Island" competitor Serghei Spivac to a ruckus, and said he even has his eyes on the UFC heavyweight championship.
"I would like to get back round September, October time, something like that," Aspinall said. "I was very impressed with Serghei Spivac who fought last week on this card, he's a young up and coming guy, I'm a young and up and coming guy and I think they should put us together and let's fight."
After that, it's putting the steps together, winning fight by fight, until he's in a position to challenge for and win the UFC title, he said.
"One day I'm gonna be UFC heavyweight champion of the world," Aspinall said. "I've always seen it in my mind."
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