Aspinall suffered injury, 'didn't really train' ahead of UFC 295
Tom Aspinall was far from 100% heading into the biggest fight of his life at UFC 295.
Aspinall, who won the interim heavyweight title Saturday with a 69-second knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at Madison Square Garden in New York, said he pulled a muscle in his back soon after agreeing to the short-notice bout in late October.
The Englishman broke the news to UFC broadcaster Laura Sanko, saying he "didn't really train" for the fight.
He expanded on the injury at the postfight press conference, adding, "I basically didn't have any training camp at all," according to MMA Fighting.
Aspinall and Pavlovich agreed to square off in an interim title fight after heavyweight champion Jon Jones pulled out of the original main event against Stipe Miocic due to injury. Pavlovich had been training as the alternate for Jones-Miocic, while Aspinall wasn't in camp.
But the injury wasn't the only adversity Aspinall faced ahead of UFC 295. The Englishman said "he didn't have a visa" and was "unsure if I could get here."
"It was the wildest two weeks ever," Aspinall said. "Everything was just going wrong."
The 30-year-old's decision to fight Pavlovich under less-than-ideal circumstances paid off, as he secured the biggest win of his career, another highlight-reel knockout, and the interim title. However, Aspinall admitted that part of him questioned whether he should be there in the moments leading up to the fight.
"That was my exact thoughts when I was sat in the locker room tonight," Aspinall said. "I was like, 'What am I doing?'"
Aspinall added that he'll always bet on himself, even against someone as dangerous as Pavlovich, who entered Saturday's bout with six consecutive first-round knockout wins.
"I'm definitely, definitely never going to win this fight by watching it on TV," Aspinall said. "And that's a given. That's 100% sure. If I'm in there, even under the worst circumstances, I know that I've got the power to knock anybody out. And I think I proved it tonight."