Tom Aspinall Explains Why He Almost Quit MMA After Horrific Knee Injury Against Curtis Blaydes

Stepping in on just over two weeks’ notice, Tom Aspinall finds himself fighting for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 295, where he faces Sergei Pavlovich.

While the fans and the UFC have been high on the potential of the Brit for some time, he suffered a substantial setback last year that looked to put his title aspirations on ice for a while.

At The O2 Arena in London in July 2022, the first stumbling block of his UFC career came 15 seconds into his main event clash with Curtis Blaydes. A devastating knee injury brought Aspinall’s wave of momentum to a crashing halt and kept him away from the spotlight for exactly a year.

Though he made a triumphant return in July this year, stopping Marcin Tybura in just over a minute of the first round, the Brit revealed that there was a moment when he questioned his future in the sport.

Tom Aspinall Reflects On The Moment He Suffered His Injury In Front Of His Home Fans

In an interview for Full Circle with bet365, Aspinall spoke about the lowest point of his career before he heads off to try and achieve the highest high.

Describing what he was feeling for the days after his injury, he went as far as to say that there were moments where he didn’t want to return to MMA.

Not only did he suffer an injury in the biggest fight of his career to date, it happened in front of a huge crowd on his home turf where fans had travelled and bought tickets to see him compete.

Knowing that he was supposed to go away with his family after the fight, Aspinall labels the whole experience as “horrendous.” 

“Depressing, horrendous … absolutely horrendous,” Aspinall stated. “It made me want to quit the sport for a little while. For a couple of days (after the injury) I didn’t want to carry on. I fell out with everything and everyone for a little. It’s just not very nice mate, it’s just horrendous — lay on the floor on your back in front of 22,000 of your own fans with a knee that is numb, locked up, being unable to move it and knowing that I was supposed to go away.”

Fortunately for Aspinall, he has the chance to have UFC gold wrapped around his waist just months on from his completed recovery this weekend at Madison Square Garden.

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