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Tom Aspinall Said he would vacate it ufc Than defending the heavyweight title against his friend Ante Deliza.
aspinol is On the verge of his first undisputed title defenseIs elevated from interim champion john jonesRetirement this summer.
Jones’ exit from the UFC stripped the American of his regular title, which will be defended by Britain’s Aspinall. Cyril Gane In Main event of UFC 321 on October 25,
And Aspinall’s preparation for that bout with the Frenchman has included training with Deliza, who made his UFC debut with a first-round knockout of Marcin Tybura in September.
After that victory over Tybura – Aspinall’s former rival – Deliza immediately entered the heavyweight top 10. Additionally, he is already booked to fight again against sixth-ranked Waldo Cortes-Acosta on November 1.
“So, my friend and training partner just came to the UFC, he just got his first win, and now he’s in the top 10,” Aspinall said. ShxtsnGigs PodcastReferring to Deliza.
“He just beat a top 10 player, so he’s potentially two or three wins away from winning the title.”
Yet Aspinall delivered an emphatic verdict when asked if he would face the 35-year-old Croatian.
“The thing is, if I had never won a title, [if] Having never touched gold before, I would say: ‘We have to fight,'” Aspinall, 32, said, “because this is my dream.
“But now I’ve done it, I’ll say: ‘I’ll free it up, and he can have his time.’ I will not fight him. No chance, no chance. He is one of my true friends, I never…
“There are some things to me that are more important than money and titles. And like I say: I’ve won titles, I’ve done that. I’ve got a few more too [title defences] Before he gets there, in me, so…
“I still have a lot to do, but I can do more in the time it takes.” [climb the rankings]I’m happy when he’s there [vacate the title],
Aspinall defeated Sergei Pavlovich in the first round in November 2023 to win the interim title. In a rare move, he decided to defend the interim belt – amid Jones’ lengthy absence from the cage – and stopped Curtis Blaydes in the first round in July 2024.
Aspinall, who was then waiting for Jones to decide on his future, has not competed since. Meanwhile, Gane last won in a controversial decision against Alexander Volkov in December.
Gane, 35, has failed to win the undisputed heavyweight title twice, losing to Jones via first-round submission in 2023 and losing to Francis Ngannou on points in 2022. Against Ngannou, a former training partner, Gane entered the fight as interim champion.