Thomas Paul Aspinall (born 11 April 1993) is an English professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

. He currently competes in the

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

division in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

(UFC). As of March 21, 2022, he is #6 in the UFC heavyweight rankings.

Background

Aspinall followed his father's footsteps by beginning to train martial arts at the age of seven. After also training wrestling and boxing, Aspinall transitioned to

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

. He has won the British Open in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in all belt classes except black belt. After his father became the jiu-jitsu instructor of

Team Kaobon Team Kaobon, which was formerly known as ''Fighters and Fitness'' is a mixed martial arts team from Liverpool, England. "Team Kaobon" is well known for being the training camp of multiple English lightweight fighters based in the Ultimate Fight ...

, Aspinall grew interested in mixed martial arts and eventually transitioned into the sport. In the year after completing school at age 16, Aspinall grew from to , causing intense growing pains.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Aspinall signed a five-fight contract with

Cage Warriors Cage Warriors (CW) is an Irish owned mixed martial arts promotion, based in London, England. The promotion was established in 2001 and staged its first MMA event in London in July, 2002. Many MMA stars have made their names under the Cage Warrio ...

after 2.5-year hiatus from professional mixed martial arts. Aspinall was offered a contract by the

also, but did not feel ready for the organization and subsequently turned it down. After two fast finishes in Cage Warriors he eventually signed to the UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Aspinall was originally scheduled to make his promotional debut against

Raphael Pessoa Raphael Pessoa (born March 9, 1989) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division of Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA). He also formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Mixed martial arts c ...

at UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards on March 21, 2020. However, Pessoa withdrew from the bout citing an injury and was replaced by

Jake Collier Jake Collier (born October 23, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background With no background in sports, Collier started Brazilian jiu-jitsu to lose weight ...

, but this event was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Subsequently, the pairing was left intact and took place on July 25, 2020 at

UFC on ESPN 14 ''UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 14'' and ''UFC Fight Island 3'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 26, 2020 at the du Forum on Yas Island, Abu ...

. He won the fight via technical knockout in round one. This win earned him the ''

Performance of the Night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

'' award. Aspinall's second UFC appearance was expected to be against

Sergey Spivak Sergey Spivak (born January 24, 1995, as Serghei Spivac) is a Moldovan mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2014, he has also formerly competed for Wo ...

at UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen on October 11, 2020. However, Spivak withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons and he was replaced by promotional newcomer

Alan Baudot Alan Dimitri Baudot (born February 1, 1988) is a French mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division. He has previously fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Alan Baudot was born on the slopes of the Croix-Ro ...

. Aspinall won the fight via first-round technical knockout. Aspinall next faced

Andrei Arlovski Andrei Arlovski (born 4 February 1979) is a Belarusian-American professional mixed martial artist, actor and former UFC Heavyweight Champion. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and ho ...

at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Lewis on February 20, 2021. He won the fight via a submission in round two. This win earned him the ''

'' award. Aspinall was expected to face

Sergei Pavlovich Sergei Vladimirovich Pavlovich (born 13 May 1992) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist. He was the former Fight Nights Global heavyweight champion and currently competes in the Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship ...

on September 4, 2021 at

UFC Fight Night 191 ''UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 191 '' and ''UFC on ESPN+ 49'' and ''UFC Vegas 36'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 4, 2021 at the ...

. However, Pavlovich was removed from the card in late-August due to alleged

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

issues which restricted his ability to travel and was replaced by

. Aspinall won the fight via technical knockout in round one. The win earned Aspinall his third ''

'' bonus award. Aspinall was scheduled to face

Shamil Abdurakhimov Shamil Gentovich Abdurakhimov (born September 2, 1981) is a Russian mixed martial artist, who is currently fighting in the heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of December 13, 2022, he is #14 in the UFC heavywe ...

on March 19, 2022 at

UFC Fight Night 204 ''UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 204'' and ''UFC on ESPN+ 62'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 19, 2022 at The O2 Arena in Lo ...

. However, on January 21, 2022, it was announced that Aspinall would instead face Alexander Volkov. Aspinall won the fight via straight armbar submission in round one. With this win, he received the ''

'' award. Aspinall faced

Curtis Blaydes Curtis Lionell Blaydes (born February 18, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2014, Blaydes formerly competed ...

on July 23, 2022, at

UFC Fight Night 208 ''UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Aspinall'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 208'' and ''UFC on ESPN+ 66'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 23, 2022, at The O2 Arena in Lon ...

. He lost the fight by technical knockout 15 seconds into the first round due to a knee injury.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

(Four times)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 12–3 ,

, TKO (knee injury) , UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Aspinall , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:15 ,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 12–2 , Alexander Volkov , Submission (straight armbar) , UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:45 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 11–2 ,

, TKO (elbow and punches) , UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:30 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–2 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Lewis , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:09 ,

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 ,

, TKO (elbows and punches) , UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:35 ,

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

, United Arab Emirates , , - , Win , align=center, 8–2 ,

, TKO (knee and punches) , UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:45 ,

, United Arab Emirates , , - , Win , align=center, 7–2 , Mickael Ben Hamouda , TKO (punches) , Cage Warriors 107 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:56 ,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 6–2 , Sofiane Boukichou , TKO (leg injury) , Cage Warriors 101 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:21 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 5–2 , Kamil Bazelak , KO (punch) , Full Contact Contender 16 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:16 ,

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–2 , Łukasz Parobiec , DQ (illegal downward elbow) , BAMMA 25 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:33 ,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Adrian Ruskac , TKO (punches) , Full Contact Contender 15 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:05 ,

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–1 , Stuart Austin , Submission (heel hook) , BAMMA 21 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:59 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Satisch Jhamai , TKO (punches) , BAMMA 19 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:09 ,

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Ricky King , Submission (heel hook) , BAMMA 18 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:49 ,

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Michał Piszczek , TKO (submission to punches) , MMA Versus UK , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:15 ,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England , , -

Professional boxing record

Publications and other media

Tom features and narrates in Coach Mike Chadwick's The Red On Revolution book, published in 2022.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aspinall, Tom 1993 births English people of Polish descent English practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu English male mixed martial artists Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Living people Sportspeople from Wigan People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu