UFC London Aftermath: Tom Aspinall’s Perfect Performance
We didn’t learn anything about him but it was a banger!
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This weekend, Tom Aspinall returned to action after a year in recovery from a devastating knee injury at the O2 Arena. In one minute and thirteen seconds of Marchin Tybura, Aspinall managed to announce his return to the UFC’s heavyweight division and reclaim his spot as one of the sport’s brightest contenders.
In today’s Aftermath issue, we will be taking a look at Aspinall’s performance at UFC London. With a little over a minute to look at, this won’t take long!
Tom Aspinall: Fully Recovered
In UFC London Beforemath one of the X-factors we discussed that isn’t really quantifiable in a technical sense was the recovery of Tom Aspinall. Against Curtis Blaydes he snapped his MCL and a recovery like that has a fighter on the shelf for some time. Then mobility was the second question. Aspinall answered all that in the O2.
Against Tybura, Aspinall managed to dart in and out of range, landing at will, and showing off his speed. As mentioned in Beforemath, Aspinall doesn’t do any one specific thing spectacular. He relies on being a well rounded fighter with decent punching, a good takedown or two, and either submissions or ground and pound.
Like the Blaydes fight, we didn’t see anything defensively from Aspinall that answered any questions. Can be defensively wrestle? We don’t know because he sparks everyone and snapped his knee in the one other matchup. The last thing we want is for Aspinall to get to Jon Jones and find out that he has absolutely zero wrestling defense and Jones folds him over like he did Gane.
The finish, however, was picture perfect. Aspinall didn’t get too fancy this fight and did not switch to southpaw like we saw in his last two actual fights. He took on the karate stance, very similar to Robert Whittaker. This alone makes him unique in the current heavyweight division. He uses his speed, his athleticism to find and create openings. That is enough to give most fighters he will face problems.
So as Aspinall was in (1) orthodox, he would step in for a jab but instead, he came over the top of Tybura (2) with an elbow. Other angles of this shot will show that despite looking wobbled, the elbow landed on Tybura’s shoulder. But it served a purpose and backed Tybura up, overwhelming and spooking him. We can see that in the very next entry from Aspinall. Tybura would (3) bite on the jab and slap away at it trying to keep Aspinall away. Lowering that hand (4) gives the opening to Aspinall for the right cross and the knockdown.
There is a tendency to overthink things and look for stuff that isn’t there. To find things in the blank spaces. But that is a folly and sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade. Over analyzing this fight is a disservice to Tom Aspinall who put on a truly great performance. He went in, konked Marchin Tybura on the noggin and called it a day. The ground and pound was enough and Aspinall got the win.
While there is a desire to find the next next contender for Jon Jones, I would like to see Aspinall drug into deep waters. That could mean a rematch with Blaydes or a fight with Jailton Almeida who dives for takedowns like his life depends on it. Jon Jones may or may not be there. If he retires after beating Miocic, then heavyweight is wide open. Another such option is Ciryl Gane who will not fall for punches as easily as Tybura and can bring him to the deep waters if he doesn’t get steamrolled on the ground. Tom Aspinall, a young 30 years old, has a bright future ahead.