Tom Aspinall was finally crowned as the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion over the weekend, and now he’ll have the rest of the division chasing after him.
For 19 months, there had been two champions in the division, as Jon Jones continually refused to step in the ring with Aspinall to unify the belts.
However, title unification is finally complete with Aspinall ready to be the big target on the back for the next group of contenders.
Jailton Almeida suggests endurance is the key to defeat Tom Aspinall
There’s been little clamour to step in against Aspinall now that the UFC is ready to crown a number-one contender, but Almeida is one man who is eager to get his shot at the champion.
He jumped straight onto social media to begin pushing his claim for his place and was even more direct in a recent interview, during which he laid out his plan to take Aspinall out early in his reign.
“It’s going to be a great fight because our styles are similar. He’s fast. Not surprisingly, he’s the champion, Almeida said.
“What I’ve seen from Tom Aspinall is that he doesn’t fight five rounds. He’s never fought five rounds in his life. He gets tired after the second. Tom Aspinall was never tested to fight more than three rounds. I’m doing six, seven rounds in the gym already, and I’m not even training to fight yet.
“If I fight Tom Aspinall, I’ll take him to the third round to see how he does. But Aspinall is no fool, he’s very experienced and has fought tough opponents, so I have to be smart and come up with a good strategy to beat him. To me, when the cage closes there, it’s a war. I’m ready for a war.”
‘Malhadinho’ reached outside his own weight class before to earn himself an opportunity, going as far as calling out light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev.
- READ MORE: Jon Jones shares major post-retirement plan as he sets out to build a ‘true legacy’ outside the UFC
Tom Aspinall is determined to have a long reign as heavyweight champion
Now that his status as champion is no longer disputed, Aspinall is intent on making his time at the top a memorable one.
He posted a video to his YouTube channel to share his reaction to Jones walking away from the fight game and amongst his comments, he set out his ambition for his time with the belt.
“I’m not going to say it was a tough time, but a bit of a challenging time over the last 10, 11 months, that I have been inactive due to no fault of my own.
“But luckily, that is all behind us now, and I’ve got to move forward with it with all the positive energy in the world. Massively appreciate the support from everybody, massively appreciate the support going forward.”
“I’m gonna keep this thing as active as possible,” Aspinall continued. “I wanna be the best heavyweight ever to walk the face of the earth. I’m gonna defend this thing as many times as I possibly can.”
Exactly who the title defence run will begin with, however, is yet to be confirmed.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
