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The Tom Aspinall injury of 2022 was a graphic one that played out in front of the UFC fans in real-time.
Aspinall was testing skills with Curtis Blaydes in what was a UK-based homecoming bout for the former, and many in the United Kingdom were deflated by the ending.
Tom Aspinall sustained his first-ever UFC loss when his right knee gave out after throwing a kick fifteen seconds into their main event matchup.
Ahead of his return this summer from the July 2022 injury, Aspinall revealed that he has been largely fighting on one leg for a meaningful period and has been fighting with this knee injury for a few years now.
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Aspinall stated that he sustained the injury in training years ago, and the sensation of it locking up would mostly occur while grappling. That fateful strike within the Blaydes fight was the first time that he had ever felt that knee-locking sensation while throwing a kick.
The actual tearing of the MCL and meniscus, as well as damage to the ACL in the fight, kept him out of competition for 364 days. Aspinall is certainly making up for lost time, though.
How did Tom Aspinall bounce back from the knee injury?
Tom Aspinall has stated that pre and post-surgery Aspinall are two different people entirely. Pre-surgery, Aspinall had been riding an eight-fight winning streak with a one hundred percent finishing rate. So, if true, that is quite an intriguing proposition, and it will be interesting to see how Aspinall keeps performing from here on out.
After a one-year hiatus from the cage, Aspinall returned to the win column. He put away Marcin Tybura in seventy-three seconds during their UFC Fight Night: Aspinall vs Tybura bout in July 2023.
He then captured the interim heavyweight title by defeating Sergei Pavlovich by first-round knockout in a short-notice bout at UFC 295. Following the victory, Aspinall defended the interim title with a first-round TKO win over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in 2024. He was then promoted to the status of full champion after Jon Jones announced his retirement from the sport.
Aspinall will attempt the first defence of his undisputed heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321.
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