‘Physically he’s in a good place, mentally he’s in an even better place’ – Mike Bisping on Tom Aspinall at UFC London

Ahead of UFC London, Michael Bisping has hailed the mentality of heavyweight Tom Aspinall on UFC Fight Week, available to watch in full on discovery+.

Aspinall will face off against Marcin Tybura in the headline fight of UFC London on Saturday in a men’s heavyweight bout that will be shown live on TNT Sports.

It will be Aspinall’s first time back in the Octagon in exactly a year since his knee blew out early on against Curtis Blaydes in London in 2022.

On TNT Sports’ UFC Fight Week, which you can watch live on discovery+, host Adam Catterall was joined by UFC Hall of Famer Bisping as well as the self-appointed 'Commissioner' Nick Peet.

Asked by Catterall what he made of the top fight of the night, Bisping said he has been really impressed by what he’s seen of Aspinall since the injury.

“What a fighter and what a man, Tom Aspinall is," Bisping began.

"I mean I’ve said it right from Day 1, I still believe he’ll be a champion down the line.

“Obviously as we know last time out against Curtis Blaydes, the fight was over before it really began. The first real engagement he blew his knee out, he was lying on the floor.

“He’s had surgery, he’s recovered, but he’s come back bigger, better and stronger.

“He’s said his leg has never felt better. He said it always used to kind of bother him, hinder him a little bit in training camp. That’s been taken care of.

“I spent some time with him recently, he’s in phenomenal shape, physically he’s in a good place, mentally he’s in an even better place.

“He’s going up against Marcin Tybura, who’s no walk in the park for anyone, I’m expecting an incredible fight.”

Peet agreed that Tybura will prove a good benchmark as to where Aspinall is in his recovery.

He also went on to say that he thinks the injury has proven to be a massive turning point for Aspinall, and has resulted in a complete shift in mentality.

“Yeah Tybura, he’s not only a veteran but he’s in 7-1 form, he’s lost one of his last eight fights," Peet said.

“He’s got a knack, like old wily veterans do, of winning rounds and ultimately winning fights so it’s going to be no walk in the park, absolutely.

“But I want to pick up on what Mike’s just said there, because we’ve spent some time with Tom, that injury, that forced time away has made him re-think his entire fight camp, re-think everybody and everything around him and he’s not only rebuilt that side of it but mentally he’s like ‘OK I nearly missed out there, that injury could have cost me my career’.

“And something’s twigged in his mind. It’s not like Tom Aspinall, 'oh it’s going too fast for me, I had to join UFC because I couldn’t get fights outside of it. I’m in no rush to get there'.

“Now when you speak to Tom it’s like, 'bring me Jon Jones, bring me him now, I’m going to smash him to bits' and going into this one he’s saying, 'yeah I’m going to do Tybura then take me to Paris'."

You can watch the full episode of UFC Fight Week on discovery+.

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