As we approach the one-year mark since Tom Aspinall successfully defended the interim heavyweight title, the newly minted undisputed champion is eager to return to action sooner rather than later.
While speaking with Adam Catterall for an episode of One-on-One, Aspinall outlined a four-fight plan for the next 12 months that would allow him to clean out the division.
“I’d like to do 4 in the next 12 months. I don’t know how realistic that is. First of all, there’s not as many of us. If you look at the top ten, I have beaten 6 of them. My goal is to beat ten of the top ten. I wanna beat all ten.”
“My goal is at least three, maybe four between now and the end of ’26.”
You can see his comments in the video below shortly after the seven-minute mark.
Breaking Down the Opponents For Aspinall’s Four-Fight Plan
As the champ indicated, he currently has wins over six of the top ten heavyweights.
The four top-ten heavyweights still on his hit-list are Ciryl Gane, Jailton Almeida, Waldo Cortes Acosta, and Derrick Lewis.
Gane, ranked No. 1 on UFC.com is currently the frontrunner to fight for the title despite Dana White vehemently disagreeing with his split decision win over Alexander Volkov back in December.
Jailton Almeida, meanwhile, is currently ranked No. 5, and is likely one more win away from entering into title contention.
Similarly, Waldo Cortes Acosta is ranked No. 6 ahead of his August fight with Serghei Spivac. With a win, he too could find himself in the mix for a crack at the title.
Last, but certainly not least, Derrick Lewis is ranked No. 9 at heavyweight ahead of his fight with No. 13 ranked Tallison Teixeira next weekend in Nashville.
As Lewis indicated to Ariel Helwani during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show last month, however, he doesn’t want to talk about a title fight until he strings together several more wins.
Tom Aspinall Opens Up on Volkanovski and GSP’s Impact
During his One on One appearance, the heavyweight champ spoke about the impact Alexander Volkanovski and Georges St-Pierre have had on him.
As he explained to Adam Catterall, he goes to both UFC legends for advice:
“All the time. My two go-to guys who I’ll listen to for advice are GSP and Volk. Just on a personal level, they are just the most, when I say regular, I mean in the best way possible. … These guys, you look at them and you think, ‘I want to lead my life like that.’
“And they just told me the same stuff, just enjoy it. Get in there. Do your thing. Let your training take over. Enjoy the moments while they’re there.”
Depending on when Aspinall returns to action, there’s a chance that he and Volkanovski wind up co-headlining a card together.
Currently, both fighters are eager to get back in the Octagon and defend their titles before the end of the year. Considering the promotion is still looking to book up pay-per-view cards in October, November, and December, there’s a chance we see some overlap.
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