Tom Aspinall Will Not Answer Questions From One Broadcaster in Press Conferences
Tom Aspinall has revealed that he will never do an interview with one major broadcaster and even ignores their questions in press conferences.
On Saturday night, Manchester's UFC champion Tom Aspinall will make the first defence of his heavyweight title as he faces Ciryl Gane inside the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
After months of online drama with former champion Jon Jones that ultimately led to the American vacating his belt, Aspinall is finally back in the media spotlight as he makes his return to the octagon.
Ahead of the fight, many broadcasters and journalists have been eager to speak to the Englishman given the fact that his last fight was back in July last year against former foe Curtis Blaydes.
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But there is one major outlet that Aspinall will not interact with whatsoever, as the heavyweight champion has revealed he will refuse any questions posed to him by the broadcaster.
Back in June, Aspinall was promoted to UFC heavyweight champion by president and CEO Dana White when former champion Jones retired following just one title defence.
Shortly after the announcement was made, the new champion spoke with popular MMA journalist Ariel Helwani to give his reaction to the surprise news.
And during the interview, he revealed that he will never again work with Sky Sports, although but he decided to keep the specifics to himself for the time being.
"I'll speak to anybody but Sky, because of reasons that I can't disclose as it'd be very unprofessional," he said on The Ariel Helwani show
"You'll never catch me doing a Sky interview ever, they massively disrespected me and I'll never work for them. I'll never say why, they know why.
"I can be the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time, the best athlete to come out of the UK, I'll never ever work with Sky.
"If I'm in a media scrum and someone from Sky asks me a question, I won't answer it. They'll never get headlines from me ever again."
Instead, Aspinall works closely with Sky Sports rival broadcaster TNT Sports, where he breaks down the biggest fights in the sport on a television series called 'Tom Aspinall's Fight Lab'.
What's next for Tom Aspinall if he beats Ciryl Gane?
Although a win over a formidable opponent like Gane is far from a foregone conclusion, UFC fans are already looking ahead to what could be next for the champion should he successfully defend his belt.
Of course, the fight with Jones is still the top of everyone's dream list, with the fight remaining possible after the former champion announced he was re-entering into the UFC's testing pool shortly after his retirement.
It is Jones' hope that he will be selected to be a part of the upcoming UFC card set to take place at The White House next summer.
Therefore, should Aspinall beat Gane, we could yet see him enter into the cage to face Jones on the White House card in the near future.
Topics: Tom Aspinall, UFC, MMA, Sky Sports, Jon Jones
Ben McCrum