Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Tom Aspinall, UFC, MMA
Ben McCrum
Tom Aspinall witnessed a crazy fight take place in the bar he used to work security for before becoming a UFC champion.
UFC heavyweight champion Aspinall will make his long-awaited return to the octagon on Saturday night as he defends his title inside the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Despite months of online drama with former champion Jon Jones, Aspinall will instead face France's Ciryl Gane in the main event of the evening, with Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern fighting for the vacant women's strawweight title in the co-main.
Now that he is the undisputed champion, therefore earning a share of the pay per view buys, the fight will almost certainly represent a career-high pay day for Aspinall, with his purse likely to be several millions.
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But this hasn't always be the case, as Aspinall used to work as a bouncer at a bar to help finance his MMA training.
As a UFC champion with 11 wins by knockout on his record, Aspinall has seen plenty of violence inside the octagon.
However, it is perhaps during his career as a bouncer for a fancy bar that he saw the most brutal and violent fight that left him completely in disbelief.
Recalling the incident during an appearance on fellow British UFC champion Michael Bisping‘s Believe You Me podcast, he said: “I used to work the door at a really nice bar.
“[It was] kicking off, people are fighting in there. So, we ran in, and as we ran in, a guy was biting another guy’s nose off.”
But things didn't end there, as the situation got much worse.
Aspinall continued: “He went to spit it out and as he was going to spit it out, his friend said, ‘Don’t spit it out, because he’ll be able to sew it back on.’
“So the guy then swallowed his nose.”
Ever since Aspinall won the interim heavyweight title with a spectacular knockout over the formidable Sergei Pavlovich back in November 2023, fans have been demanding that Jones must fight him.
However, after reportedly agreeing to the fight, the former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion instead decided to announce his retirement, therefore making Aspinall the new undisputed champion.
But almost immediately after confirming his retirement, Jones announced that he was re-entering into the UFC's testing pool so that he would be available to fight Aspinall, or anybody else, on the upcoming UFC card at The White House.
Therefore, should Aspinall beat Gane, we could yet see him enter into the cage to face Jones at The White House card next summer.