# Tom Aspinall

Thomas Paul Aspinall (born 11 April 1993) is an English professional mixed martial artist. As of March 11, 2025, he competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the reigning Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion. As of 11 March 2025, he is #10 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings. Aspinall is known for his finishing ability, having finished six of his eight UFC wins by the halfway point of the first round, and holds the UFC record for shortest average fight time at two minutes and two seconds.

## Background

Aspinall followed his father's footsteps by beginning to train martial arts when he was seven years old at the Leigh Self Defence Studio in Leigh, Greater Manchester. After being trained in Catch wrestling and boxing, Aspinall transitioned to jiu-jitsu. 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, Aspinall grew interested in mixed martial arts and transitioned into the sport. In the year after completing school at age 16, Aspinall grew from 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m) to 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m), causing intense growing pains.

## Mixed martial arts career
### Early career

At age 18, Aspinall had his first amateur fight. He posted a record of nine wins and no losses as an amateur. All but one of his wins came via knockout or submission.
Aspinall signed a five-fight contract with Cage Warriors after a 2.5-year hiatus from professional mixed martial arts. Aspinall was offered a contract by the Ultimate Fighting Championship also, but did not feel ready for the organisation 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 at UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards on 21 March 2020. However, Pessoa withdrew from the bout citing an injury and was replaced by Jake Collier, but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, the pairing was left intact and took place on 25 July 2020, at UFC on ESPN 14. He won the fight via technical knockout in round one. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.
Aspinall's second UFC appearance was expected to be against Serghei Spivac at UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen on 11 October 2020. However, Spivak withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons and he was replaced by promotional newcomer Alan Baudot. Aspinall won the fight via first-round technical knockout.
Aspinall next faced Andrei Arlovski at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Lewis on 20 February 2021. He won the fight via a submission in round two. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.
Aspinall was expected to face Sergei Pavlovich on 4 September 2021, at UFC Fight Night 191. However, Pavlovich was removed from the card in late-August due to alleged visa issues which restricted his ability to travel and was replaced by Serghei Spivac. Aspinall won the fight via technical knockout in round one. The win earned Aspinall his third Performance of the Night bonus award.
Aspinall was scheduled to face Shamil Abdurakhimov on 19 March 2022, at UFC Fight Night 204. However, on 21 January 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 Performance of the Night award.
Aspinall faced Curtis Blaydes on 23 July 2022, at UFC Fight Night 208. He lost the fight by technical knockout 15 seconds into the first round after being rendered unable to continue due to a knee injury.
After a year off due to his injury, Aspinall returned to face Marcin Tybura on 22 July 2023, at UFC Fight Night 224. He won the fight via TKO just over a minute into the first round. With this win, he received his fifth Performance of the Night bonus award.
On two weeks' notice, Aspinall faced Sergei Pavlovich for the Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship on 11 November 2023, at UFC 295 due to Jon Jones becoming injured and his fight against Stipe Miocic being cancelled. He won by first-round knockout in a little over a minute and the victory earned him his sixth Performance of the Night award.
Aspinall defended his interim title against Curtis Blaydes in a rematch on 27 July 2024 at UFC 304. He won the fight by knockout one minute into the first round. This fight earned him a $100,000 Performance of the Night award.
Aspinall served as the backup fighter for the UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between the current champion Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic on 16 November 2024 at UFC 309.

## Personal life

Aspinall was born to parents Tracey and Andy and was raised in Atherton, Greater Manchester. He is married to his Polish wife Justyna with two sons and one daughter. One of his sons is diagnosed with autism. Aspinall can speak some Polish and says he feels very close to Poland because of his wife and half Polish children.

## Championships and accomplishments
### Mixed martial arts

* Ultimate Fighting Championship
** Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion (One time, current)
*** One successful title defence
** Performance of the Night (Seven times) vs. Jake Collier, Andrei Arlovski, Serghei Spivac, Alexander Volkov, Marcin Tybura, Sergei Pavlovich & Curtis Blaydes
*** Tied (Donald Cerrone, Ovince Saint Preux, Conor McGregor & Kevin Holland) for third most Performance of the Night awards in UFC history (7)
*** Tied (Mark Hunt & Travis Browne) for fourth-most post-fight bonuses in UFC Heavyweight division history (7)
** Shortest average fight time in UFC history (2:02)
** Second most knockdowns per 15 minutes in UFC history (4.09)
** Second highest number of significant strikes landed per minute in UFC history (8.07)
*** Highest number of significant strikes landed per minute in UFC Heavyweight division history (8.07)
** Largest striking differential in UFC history (5.18)
** Least bottom position time in UFC history (0:01)
** Lowest bottom position percentage in UFC history (0.09%)
** UFC.com Awards
*** 2020: Ranked #9 Newcomer of the Year
*** 2022: Ranked #3 Submission of the Year vs. Alexander Volkov
*** 2023: Ranked #6 Fighter of the Year, Ranked #8 Upset of the Year & Ranked #6 Knockout of the Year vs. Sergei Pavlovich
* Sherdog
** 2023 Breakthrough Fighter of the Year
* Violent Money TV
** VMTV UK MMA Male Knockout of the Year 2023
* World MMA Awards
** 2024 Breakthrough Fighter of the Year
** 2024 Comeback of the Year

## Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown :
| 18 matches | 15 wins | 3 losses |
| By knockout | 12 | 1 |
| By submission | 3 | 1 |
| By disqualification | 0 | 1 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
| Win | 15–3 | Curtis Blaydes | KO (punches) | UFC 304 | 27 July 2024 | 1 | 1:00 | Manchester, England | Defended the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship. Performance of the Night. |
| Win | 14–3 | Sergei Pavlovich | KO (punches) | UFC 295 | 11 November 2023 | 1 | 1:09 | New York City, New York, United States | Won the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship. Performance of the Night. |
| Win | 13–3 | Marcin Tybura | TKO (elbow and punches) | UFC Fight Night: Aspinall vs. Tybura | 22 July 2023 | 1 | 1:13 | London, England | Performance of the Night. |
| Loss | 12–3 | Curtis Blaydes | TKO (knee injury) | UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Aspinall | 23 July 2022 | 1 | 0:15 | London, England | |
| Win | 12–2 | Alexander Volkov | Submission (straight armbar) | UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall | 19 March 2022 | 1 | 3:45 | London, England | Performance of the Night. |
| Win | 11–2 | Serghei Spivac | TKO (elbow and punches) | UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till | 4 September 2021 | 1 | 2:30 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Performance of the Night. |
| Win | 10–2 | Andrei Arlovski | Submission (rear-naked choke) | UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Lewis | 20 February 2021 | 2 | 1:09 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Performance of the Night. |
| Win | 9–2 | Alan Baudot | TKO (elbows and punches) | UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen | 10 October 2020 | 1 | 1:35 | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | |
| Win | 8–2 | Jake Collier | TKO (knee and punches) | UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till | 26 July 2020 | 1 | 0:45 | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | Performance of the Night. |
| Win | 7–2 | Mickael Ben Hamouda | TKO (punches) | Cage Warriors 107 | 28 September 2019 | 1 | 0:56 | Liverpool, England | |
| Win | 6–2 | Sofiane Boukichou | TKO (leg injury) | Cage Warriors 101 | 16 February 2019 | 1 | 1:21 | Liverpool, England | |
| Win | 5–2 | Kamil Bazelak | KO (punch) | Full Contact Contender 16 | 18 June 2016 | 1 | 1:16 | Bolton, England | |
| Loss | 4–2 | Łukasz Parobiec | DQ (illegal downward elbow) | BAMMA 25 | 14 May 2016 | 2 | 3:33 | Birmingham, England | |
| Win | 4–1 | Adrian Ruskac | TKO (punches) | Full Contact Contender 15 | 5 March 2016 | 1 | 1:05 | Bolton, England | |
| Loss | 3–1 | Stuart Austin | Submission (heel hook) | BAMMA 21 | 13 June 2015 | 2 | 3:59 | Birmingham, England | |
| Win | 3–0 | Satisch Jhamai | TKO (punches) | BAMMA 19 | 28 March 2015 | 1 | 0:09 | Blackpool, England | |
| Win | 2–0 | Ricky King | Submission (heel hook) | BAMMA 18 | 21 February 2015 | 1 | 0:49 | Wolverhampton, England | |
| Win | 1–0 | Michał Piszczek | TKO (submission to punches) | MMA Versus UK: Empire Rises | 13 December 2014 | 1 | 0:15 | Manchester, England | Heavyweight debut. |

## Professional boxing record

| 1 fight | 1 win | 0 losses |
| By knockout | 1 | 0 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Tamas Bajzath | KO | 1 (4), 1:24 | 24 June 2017 | Wythenshawe Forum, Manchester, England | |