Michael Bisping knows a future champion when he sees one, and after another spectacular performance at UFC London, he’s seen enough to believe Tom Aspinall is capable of becoming the first man to actually beat Jon Jones in a sanctioned fist-fight.
“Tom Aspinall was utterly fantastic,” Bisping told Sky Sports. “That’s one of the best performances I’ve ever seen from a heavyweight. Marcin Tybura, the guy that he beat, is no walk in the park. He’s won seven of his last eight against world-class opposition, and Tom just blew threw him like he was nothing. And I do, 100 percent, believe he will be the champion. In fact, I know he will be the champion, barring any freak injury or something terrible or bad luck happens. He will be the champion of the world.
“Jon Jones is the heavyweight champion. He’s an incredible fighter. He’s incredible. He’s one of the greatest of all-time. I don’t think he can hold a candle to Tom. I think Tom will do the same thing to Jon Jones as what he did to Marcin Tybura. I don’t think there’s anyone that can stop Tom Aspinall. He’s that good. He’s that switched on.”
Aspinall, 30, had a dominant showing in his return from injury this past Saturday, stopping Tybura in just 73 seconds under a hailstorm of blows at UFC London. The win pushed Aspinall’s octagon record to 6-1, with his lone loss coming due to a knee injury suffered just 15 seconds into his July 2022 bout against Curtis Blaydes. Aspinall has finished all six of his UFC victories, with five ending in first-round stoppages.
Jones is currently the UFC heavyweight champion after capturing the title with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane in March at UFC 285. Widely considered one of the greatest fighters of all-time, Jones is set to face Stipe Miocic in November at UFC 295.
Bisping acknowledged that Aspinall still has yet to prove himself against the very best the heavyweight division has to offer, however he’s confident in his countryman’s chances.
“We haven’t seen him tested, and often you want to see that from a fighter, because if you’re going to be a hammer and a nail, you’ve got to be able to dish it out but you’ve got to be able to take it, and then mentally reset at the end of a round and go out stronger and confident,” Bisping said. “So we haven’t seen if he has that ability, right? But let’s just assume he has, because I speak to his dad, I speak to all his training partners. His training partners are absolutely gigantic, by the way, and apparently they give it to him in training. So he’s not in the position where he’s at if he was the type of guy that would quit on himself.
“He’s beaten a lot of ranked guys. He’s beaten former champions, of course,” Aspinall continued. “The top two guys are Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones, OK? And they will be a step up. Of course they will. They’re both fighting in Madison Square Garden in November. I think he should fight the winner of that, or maybe a Sergei Pavlovich.”