Tom Aspinall has played a hilarious prank on Ariel Helwani and the rest of the MMA world on the eve of his fight with Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304.
Interim heavyweight title holder Aspinall, 31, takes on Blaydes in the co-main event on Saturday, with the British fighter desperate to stay on track for a shot at current division champion Jon Jones.
It will be the second time he's fought the American in the UFC following their 2022 clash, which ended in just 15 seconds after the Brit injured his knee in the opening exchanges of the fight.
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This weekend's event also sees welterweight champion Edwards defend his title against Belal Muhammad in a rematch of their 2021 fight, which ended with a no contest result after an accidental eye poke from the British fighter.
Ahead of the event, Aspinall told respected MMA journalist Helwani that he was soaking his hands in petrol during the night to strengthen them – claiming it was a technique often used by fighters in the travelling community.
"You ever see the documentary Knuckle? You familiar with that? It's a documentary about travellers, travelling communities in the UK island," Aspinall told Helwani.
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"And there's a guy on there, big Joe Joyce, an old traveling legend, and big Joe Joyce reveals a few gypsy methods for getting ready for a fight.
"I wanted to resort back to a bit of gypsy heritage that I've got, so I thought, right, what I'm going to do is I'm going to make a little ring out of hay bales.
"When it gets to about 4 am, I get my alarm on, I go outside, do a bit shadowboxing in the hay bales - and then I do the old traveller method of dipping your knuckles in petrol for about 20 minutes as the sun is coming up, and that hardens your knuckles."
After fans questioned whether the technique was genuine and worked, Helwani claimed he had been sent proof by Aspinall – posting a picture of the British fighter dipping his hands in a bucket to his followers on social media.
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"'The Petrol Prince' @AspinallMMA just called me whilst in bed to prove he is actually dipping his hands in petrol in the middle of the night to get ready for his title defense. Some man," tweeted Helwani.
But not all is what it seemed.
Aspinall posted a follow-up video, revealing he had tricked Helwani into thinking it was a genuine tactic – when in fact he had been dipping his hands into water.
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He released new footage of himself on the phone to the reporter from a different angle, clearly showing there was no petrol in the bucket.
After he dips his hands into the container, Helwani – who is on video call to Aspinall – says: "Wow! Can I take a picture of that?"
To which Aspinall replies: "We're taking the p*** Ariel, it's just water. It was all a big f***ing joke."
Helwani then asks if he can "keep the gag going" but Aspinall replies: "We've got to drop it. People think it's real!"
Topics: UFC, MMA, Tom Aspinall, Leon Edwards
Rory O'Callaghan