‘Great fight – Tom Aspinall reveals reason for Alex Pereira post after UFC 300 and admits he’d love to fight Brazilian
TOM ASPINALL has finally explained why he shared a snap of himself staring at Alex Pereira after UFC 300.
The Atherton assassin was octagonside for last month’s historic tricentennial card in Las Vegas, which was headlined by Pereira’s first defence of the light-heavyweight title.
Aspinall watched on as ‘Poatan’ brutally knocked out former champion Jamahal Hill in less than four minutes after casually brushing off a groin strike.
The interim UFC heavyweight champion also had his sights on Pereira as he made his way to the octagon and posted a snap of himself staring at the Brazilian to Instagram before the dust had even settled on UFC 300.
The photo didn’t include a caption but spoke for itself, although Aspinall insists he posted it because it looked “good”.
In an exclusive interview with SunSport, he laughed and said: “I didn’t mean to [poke the bear], I didn’t mean to.
“I thought it was a good picture so I posted it that’s it. Nothing more to it, nothing more to it.”
Aspinall may play down the true meaning behind the post but his respect for two-division champion Pereira and the potential match-up is clear and evident.
When pressed further, he added: “Well, he was talking about moving up to heavyweight.
“So I thought it was pretty fitting that’s all. Again, I’m a big fan of Alex.
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“He’s a great fighter, [he’s] got a lot of power and his striking is great. He’s really hot right now and I think it makes for a great match-up.”
Aspinall is set to defend his interim 265lbs title at UFC 304, although the UFC are still working on an opponent for his homecoming.
So what about welcoming ‘Poatan’ to heavyweight on home soil?
“That would be something,” Aspinall admitted when asked about the prospect of fighting Pereira in Manchester. “That would be something.”
The 31-year-old continued: “Absolutely [I’d welcome to him heavyweight.] You can ask anybody, mate, who has ever been involved in my career, the UFC brass or anybody.
“I don’t say no to fights.
“I’m not the guy who’s like; if I say no to fights, in my opinion, I’m in the wrong sport. I’m here to fight people and that’s it.
“A lot of MMA fighters get it twisted and start going the wrong direction.
“[They] start going the celebrity route and doing all this other stuff.
“I’m here to fight people and that’s what I wanna do. That’s what I enjoy doing, that’s what I’ve spent my life doing.
“And until I stop enjoying it, that’s how I’ll be spending my days. Training to fight people and eventually fighting them. And that’s it.”
The UFC are unlikely to grant Pereira’s wish to let him move up to heavyweight – let alone challenge for the interim belt – any time soon as he still has work left to do at light-heavyweight.
Aspinall is all too aware of the unlikelihood of the fight coming to fruition anytime soon.
But that won’t stop him from dreaming of ending his career with the new fan favourite’s name on his resume.
He said: ‘I’m a big fan of Alex’s. I’m a big fan of everybody who fights. Do you know what I mean? Especially guys like Alex, Jon [Jones] etc, etc.
“In years to come, when I’ve retired, looking back and thinking, ‘I’ve fought those guys’, that would be nice.”
