Tom Aspinall was used to being the babyface.
Then again, he spent an entire year in a feud with perennial bad boy Jon Jones, who does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to aggravating fans. But after his No Contest against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321 last fall, it seems fickle fight fans are no longer backing the heavyweight champ.
Blame the old “dirty bastard” who poked him in the eyes and turned everything grey.
“It’s been pretty smooth sailing as far as fans with me, but the tide has turned,” Aspinall told Paddy Pimblett. “But I’ve got a lot of good stuff, as well. It’s not all bad. It’s just thickened my skin up a little bit, and you’ve just got to see it for what it is. Dirty bastard just needs to cut his fingernails. Disgusting.”
Gane’s “disgusting” fingernails may have been “10 times dirtier than average toilet seat.”
“I think a lot of the time my success, my record, that record I’ve got, and finishing fights really quick … like if I don’t finish the fight in the first minute, people think I’m looking like sh*t,” Aspinall added. “People are like, ‘He’s sh*t. He’s not looking good today.’ No, we’re just evenly matched and we’re having a fight — I’ve not punched him properly yet.
Aspinall, 32, will undergo two eye surgeries to repair the damage suffered against Gane and may not return until the second half of 2026. Then again, he may not return at all if things don’t progress according to schedule. If and when the heavyweight champ does come back, the plan is to book an immediate rematch.
The 15-3 champ remains a slight betting favorite.
