Tom Aspinall's Dad Doesn't Want Him to Sign New UFC Deal Due to Major Issue

Tom Aspinall’s father, Andy, has claimed that he doesn’t want his son to sign a new contract with the UFC ahead of the Atherton heavyweight’s title defence against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321.

Tom, 32, is currently the best heavyweight on the planet heading into this weekend’s clash against Frenchman Gane, 35, in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The Atherton fighter’s only UFC defeat occurred in July 2022, when he sustained a serious knee injury in the first minute of his bout against Curtis Blayes in London, with the result judged a TKO victory for the American.

Since then, he has rectified his loss against Blayes, having beaten him convincingly last time out in Manchester back in July 2024.

Overall, the 32-year-old boasts a professional MMA record of 15 wins and three losses with eight wins from nine fights under the UFC banner.

During his time with the world’s premier MMA organisation, Aspinall has yet to go beyond the first round and has hardly been tested.

Of course, aside from his knee injury, Aspinall’s biggest disappointment during his time with the UFC is the fact that despite waiting over 18 months to fight the legendary Jon Jones, the fight never materialised as the American announced his retirement in June of 2025.

Nonetheless, a victory over Gane will further cement Aspinall’s legacy in the sport, but according to his dad, he may not be a UFC fighter for much longer.

Speaking to RMC Sport Combat during fight week ahead of UFC 321, Andy Aspinall, Tom’s father and first coach, claimed he wants to see his son receive bigger paydays in boxing and suggested that he’d rather see the 32-year-old become a world champion in boxing rather than MMA.

Andy said: “The money [in boxing] is more money. He has three more fights on the contract, and I don’t want to sign a new contract personally.”

Of course, this isn’t the first and certainly won’t be the last time a UFC fighter or someone close to them has spoken of the gulf in earning potential between MMA and boxing.

Previously, Tom discussed the purses he has received throughout his MMA career – both with the UFC and other promotions such as Cage Warriors – claiming that he received just £200 for his first pro fight before getting either “$10,000 [appearance money] and $10,000 [win bonus] or $12,000 and $12,000”, for his first UFC fight, during an appearance on The Diary of a CEO earlier this year.

According to Sports Casting Bets, Aspinall has earned an estimated £2,836,810 in his nine UFC bouts, which works out as £12,230 per strike thrown and £17,750 per strike landed.

Compare this to the average yearly UK wage of just over £35,000 per year, according to ONS, and Aspinall is a very wealthy individual.

However, if you compare his earnings to those of a professional boxing champion, the figures are dwarfed.

Take Tyson Fury, for example.

According to Forbes, Fury was ranked as the 42nd highest-paid athlete in the world as of May 2024, having earned $42 million (£31.5m) in his career and a further $8 million from endorsements.

And this figure would’ve increased following his two fights against Oleksandr Usyk, as talkSPORT reported that Fury earned a career-high $105 million (£91.5m) payday for his first fight against the Ukrainian before the self-proclaimed ‘Gypsy King’ pocketed a further £67.3 million for the second bout.

Other fighters, including former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, have previously left the promotion in a bid to earn more by boxing.

How to watch watch UFC in the UK

Brits can watch UFC on TNT Sports via discovery+, which can be purchased as a ‘streaming add-on’ to your existing TV package (for Prime Video users that’s £30.99 a month or for Sky users that’s £31 a month). It’s also included in selected BT EE TV packages from £18 per month.