Tom Aspinall would be eagerly waiting for UFC 309 featuring Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic as the main event. He'll either get the chance to grab the undisputed UFC heavyweight championship as the backup fighter, or at the very least, he'll know who to fight for it in the future.
Aspinall's run in the UFC and even his pro MMA career stand out instantly. He's won all 15 of his MMA fights via a finish and has never entered the third round in his career.
Till now, Aspinall has proved that he's miles ahead of every other heavyweight fighter on the planet. While many believe that the lack of cage time and never facing adversity could backfire on the interim champ, MMA analyst Luke Thomas identifies a bigger hole in his game...
Luke Thomas Shares 'Bigger Concerns' With Tom Aspinall Than Short Octagon Fight Time
On his YouTube channel, Thomas recently discussed Aspinall's unstoppable rise in the UFC heavyweight division. Contrary to popular opinion, he stated that even if the interim UFC heavyweight champion runs into someone who'll last more than two rounds, he won't be bothered as much by things like cardio or lack of experience.
Instead, according to Thomas, Aspinall's striking defense could lead to his first UFC loss. He pointed out how the English fighter keeps his chin up while striking and he gets hit frequently which isn't ideal at heavyweight for obvious reasons.
So, Aspinall's head placement and range management in the pocket concerns Thomas about his future in the UFC. Currently, he compensates for these shortcomings through his striking speed and movement. However, if a fight goes longer and he slows down, opponents might find his chin as well.
My hunch is that that's [less cage time] probably not going to be his biggest issue," Thomas continued, "The bigger issue to me, though, like the one that shows up right away is his striking defense. His striking offense, his ability to connect, his power, his ability to cover distance, his speed is such a weapon that he can just land on anybody so quickly so incredibly. But he gets hit! And he's got some bad habits about head position in the pocket where with what they call head slot. What slots he occupies -there's A,B, and C slots. He, you know, his chin is kind of like, this, up, a lot of times. Those to me are bigger concerns. Because yes, if he slows down, then that could be a problem but it would actually only magnify the other part which is that there are defensive striking issues.
Aspinall has already beaten most of the top-ranked UFC heavyweights effortlessly. This explains why fans expect him to take on veterans like Jon Jones or Stipe Miocic who might survive the early onslaught and give the interim champ a run for his money.