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UFC Live’s Dan Hellie, Alan Jouban and Michael Chiesa discuss the heavyweight division as champion Tom Aspinall is nearly a win away from his last fight.

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Video Transcript

But it has been a minute, boy. 349 days

as of today since Aspenol last fought.

Yeah. I mean, obviously we would all

have loved to see either the super fight

with him and Jon Jones happen or him

fight somebody else a bit sooner. Not

such a long layoff, but I don't look at

it as a bad thing. When I think about

Tom Aspenol, 32 years old, he's still in

that realm of being in the beginning of

his prime right now. And when you have a

year off, good things can happen when

you look at it. Certain injuries have

time to heal and you're able to add

elements to your game that you haven't

been able to do when you're in fight

camp. Fight camp is when you break down

the body. When you're off for a while,

you could add new tools to the game. So,

I think next time that we see him, he's

going to be not only invigorated to

fight again, but have new tools and beer

and better as well.

I like your glasses half full mentality

because I think the glass is half empty.

I would have loved to see him fight Jon

Jones. And if it's not Jon Jones, I

would have loved to see him just get out

there and compete. And I'm sure yes, he

has evolved in the time away. He's

become a better fighter. His body has

not been as broken down, but I very much

am still a competitor. And if I'm

healthy, I want to fight. So, I can't

imagine being a guy in Tom Aspenol who's

hungry to fight, who's chasing

greatness, who's really has the makings

to become one of the greatest

heavyweights, if not the greatest

heavyweight of all time. So, I'm more of

the glasses half empty, but I'm glad

we've got some clarity and I'm sure

we're going to dive into that. Astronaut

is the undisputed champ. So, I'm excited

to see him get in the octagon and get

back to competing.

And I got a chance to hang out with him

a couple of weeks ago in Atlanta, and he

says the same thing away from the camera

that he says on camera. I want to get

back in there. I want to fight. I want

to take down every single fighter in the

top 10. and he's already done it to four

guys. Let's take a look at the top 10 as

it stands right now in the heavyweight

rankings. Tom Aspenol wants to fight

each and every one of them. Sir Gan

currently the number one ranked

contender. Now he's already fought

Vulov, finished him in the first round

in 2022. Pavlovich knocked him out for

the interim title in 2023. Knocked out

Curtis Blades in his last fight. Moved

down the list Sergey Spivok. It was a

first round finish in 2021 for Aspenol.

So who do you guys want to see next? I

would really like to see him fight

Serial Gone because I feel like Serial

Gone has the movement and the agility

that kind of mirrors what Tom Aspenol

brings into the octagon. Now, does he

have the same power? He definitely does

not. But I think that that that's going

to bring out the best in Tom as a guy

that's going to move with him, a guy

that can kind of do the dance, that can

play a similar type of game, and maybe

just get Tom Asol out of the first

round. I would like to see Tom Asol

fight over the course of five rounds so

we could really see his full skill set.

And I truly believe that Serial Gone has

the durability and the tools to make it

a much longer fight than all of Tom

Aspenol's previous opponents. So that's

why Serial Gone is my number one vote as

to who should be the guy to fight him

for the belt next.

Yeah, and I definitely think Sodon

matches up with him the best when you

look at body style uh and athleticism

for guys that size. But if it's not

going to be Sodon, I would like to see

somebody with a much taller frame. Kind

of like our main event,

but I'm looking at Alexander Valt. This

guy right here has the height, has the

reach, he has the striking accolades to

be able to stand and trade with Tom

Asen. He's number two in the rankings

right now and he just came off of a loss

recently to Silgon, but that was a split

decision that a lot of people think he

got robbed. A lot of people, including

Dana White, thinks he rightfully won

that fight, which would have put him

first in line to fight. But I would like

to see how well Tom Asenol sizes up

against somebody with the height, the

range, and the striking pedigree of

Alexander Volkov. So Vulkoff in between

his fights with Sirill Ganon and Tom

Aspenol beat Jarzinho Rosen Strike,

Alexander Romangh, Taiu Ivasa, and

Sergey Pavlovich. So he was streaking

before that fight and you're right that

was a very very close fight with Sir

Gone.

One of them that I think we probably all

agree the judges got that one wrong. I

think in a lot of people's eyes at least

it was close enough. I don't think

Michael agrees but it was a very close

fight. It could have gone either way. It

could have gone either way, but still it

kind of makes the water a little bit

muddy because, you know, Tom Asel kind

of had his way with Alexander Volov the

first time that they fought. And while

Volov has put together this great win

streak, if he gets past serial gone,

it's still like, well, should he be the

next guy because there's really

well while he's earned his right at the

top, you probably look below him for

somebody that Asal hasn't fought yet.

Something that's some new blood. So, I

think serial gone getting the nod is the

best thing for the heavyweight to be.

And to his point, I mean, Tom Asenol

just ran through Volkov on the ground.

he would be a lot more competitive. Tom

knew that he has the ability to strike

with you and knock you out or take you

to the ground and utilize that black.

Well, and that's what I would worry

about with Sir Gan, right? Is if he can

take him to the ground. Sir Gan,

obviously we've seen his ground game not

necessarily up to par when he has to

take on some of these jiu-jitsu guys who

really know what they're doing.

And also one other thing is let's see

how Tom Asol does against Gon and then

it brings about the Jon Jones

controversy because what if he beats Sir

Gon better

gets him out of there faster. I don't

know if he gets them out. Well, I mean,

he's Tom is known for getting people out

of their

fat. Just maybe that could match up with

the White House event that could happen

next July and Dana White has already

gone on record to say the Aspenol Jon

Jones would be the perfect main event at

the White House uh next July.

Dan Hely for matchmaker 2026.

How active want to stay in between that

time I think is the question though. Tom

does get the gun fight and say he wins

that how act how soon would he want to

fight again or would he want to wait for

the for the white house fight and we

don't know what happens with John I

think he wants to stay busy

he does want to stay busy he has made

that very clear to anybody who will

listen all right how about the top three

threats overall for Aspenol and listen

they can be from any weight division

they can be retired they can be a former

two division champion they can be

whatever you guys want them to be let's

uh let's start with you on this one

all right I I'll take this off first one

right here. You named them already.

Sagan, the best uh it's a parallel to

the the body style, big frame. He moves

like a a welterweight. He's got

explosive power, high level kickboxing.

Sitt number one. Also in there, the man

I mentioned, Alexander Volkov, very tall

for division, has earned a second shot

at this matchup. And lastly, pending on

what happens on Saturday night with with

Talison Texta against Derrick Lewis. If

Talison Texter wins this fight, which

he's done all eight of his victories in

the very first round. If you get Derrick

Lewis out of there in the first round,

you're a 25-year-old 6'8 knockout

artist. This is somebody who could pose

a big threat to Tom Aspenol in the

future.

Slow your roll, buddy. He's got to get

through Derrick Lewis first and a couple

of the guys at the top of the He's got

to get a number next to his name first,

Allan Boy. But hey, I see what you're

saying. He's

He has He has a number next to his name.

He's in the top 15. He's ranked 13.

Oh, he's 13. Yeah. He really surged his

way to the top there.

Yeah. After one fight. Get your point.

Get your point out.

Get my point. Okay. Okay. Back to my

point. Look, I already named the guy

first, Jon Jones. I mean, Jon Jones to

me, that's the top of the heap. I

wouldn't even put him into this

conversation if he didn't just come out

and say he's putting himself back in the

testing pool. So, Jones is very much at

the top for the top three threats to Tom

Aspenol. Number two is gone. We touched

on that. But I want to talk about Jaylen

Almeida. This is a guy that's clamoring

for a shot at Tom Aspenol online. He

brings a different type of threat to the

heavyweight division. That grappling

heavy approach. He's a very dangerous

submission artist. He's got back-to-back

wins, both by submission. And I think

that he's a guy that's really starting

to come into his own. And if he can get

that fight against um Tom Asma, I think

he could present some problems for him

in the grappling department.

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