Tom Aspinall prides himself on being accessible.
But the undisputed heavyweight champion, who retired Jon Jones without throwing a single punch (as promised), is finding it harder to train publicly in the wake of his newfound fame. In addition, his UFC stardom has made him a target for overstepping fight fans who don’t understand the concept of boundaries.
At least he’s not getting any dick pics (that we know of).
“I’m not Taylor Swift, not claiming to be, but training publicly has become a bit more difficult,” Aspinall told One on One. “Privately is more convenient. I absolutely love the fact that a lot of people relate to me, as in personally, which is amazing — ‘people’s champion’ kind of vibes, which is great. But also when I’m in the gym, I’ve gotta train. It’s work time, I’ve gotta work. People asking for selfies in between rounds isn’t ideal. When I’m training, I am a bit of a dick because it’s really important to me, I know exactly what I have to do to fight at the elite level.”
So don’t expect him to be hanging out at the beach during fight camp.
“The other time that I’ll be a dick to you, if I’m with my children and you take a picture without my consent, there might be hands flying,” Aspinall continued. “Because I’ve been close to that a few times, as well. The public stuff. Don’t take pictures of my kids without consent. That’s a horrendous thing to do. I hate that. Come over and ask me for a picture. Even if I am with the kids, I’ll probably say yeah. And if I don’t, it’s for good reason. So, just putting that out there.”
Think of the children, dammit!
Aspinall claims to have a date and opponent for his next title fight and will likely wait for the promotion to announce that news in the coming days. The 32 year-old Brit has not competed since registering a knockout victory over Curtis Blaydes in summer 2024.
Stay tuned.
