Tom Aspinall using bizarre method to strengthen his hands for UFC 304 as Ariel Helwani provides new proof

MMA reporter Ariel Helwani has provided proof that Tom Aspinall is using an old-school method to strengthen his hands ahead of his big fight at UFC 304.

Aspinall defends his interim UFC heavyweight title against Curtis Blaydes at this weekend's UFC 304 from Manchester, England.

He spoke about his UFC assignment at UFC 304 media day as he absolutely violated Paddy Pimblett.

It'll be the second time he's fought the American following their 2022 clash, which ended in just 15 seconds after the Brit blew his knee out.

And ahead of running it back with 'Razor', the 31-year-old claimed to be soaking his hands in petrol in what is a traditional method among the traveller community.

But fans and critics alike questioned whether Aspinall was indeed dipping his hands in petrol ahead of UFC 304.

The UFC star, however, confirmed the unorthodox method as he FaceTimed Helwani to prove he was doing it.

"'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," he tweeted, accompanied with a picture of the fighter doing the petrol-based method.

Image: X/@arielhelwani

Speaking to Helwani last week, Aspinall detailed his pre-fight practice which includes waking up at 4am.

"You ever see the documentary Knuckle? You familiar with that? It’s a documentary about travellers, travelling communities in the UK island. 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," he explained.

"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 traveler method of dipping your knuckles in petrol for about 20 minutes as the sun’s coming up, and that hardens your knuckles."