Tom Aspinall is the undisputed champion.
But is he the best heavyweight in the promotion? We may not have a definitive answer until Aspinall gets through wrestling powerhouse Jailton Almeida. The Brazilian bruiser averages nearly seven takedowns per fight and boasts four post-fight performance bonuses over the last three years.
That said, Aspinall has yet to be taken down in UFC.
“We haven’t seen [Aspinall] fighting from his back, which is something that I’m really curious to see how he goes about it,”
Almeida told Ariel Helwani. “I don’t think he’s ever been pressured as much as we would need to see someone being pressured to really understand who they are. I think that there’s still some stuff to be checked with Aspinall. He’s a fantastic fighter, but I think there’s still some things that we need to see.”
Aspinall (15-3) is booked to defend his 265-pound strap against two-time title challenger Ciryl Gane as part of the upcoming UFC 321 pay-per-view (PPV) card later this year in Abu Dhabi. That’s the same event that has Almeida (22-3) battling Alexander Volkov for what could be the next crack at the heavyweight crown.
“I’m more explosive than anybody [Aspinall] has faced, especially on the grappling side of things — I think it would probably develop as a grappling fight,” the No. 5-ranked Almeida continued. “He is a [Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu] black belt, but there’s levels to being a black belt. I think that I’ll be able to take him into deep waters once we get to the grappling side of things.”
To see who else is fighting at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi click here.
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