UFC heavyweight superstar Tom Aspinall has taken a swipe at Conor McGregor calling the Dubliner 'boring and all talk'.
The 29-year-old has fought 15 times in the UFC and won 12 of those, losing three.
His last fight came against Curtis Blaydes in July 2022. He lost the fight by technical knockout 15 seconds into the first round due to a knee injury.
UFC London will take place Saturday 18 March 2023. Aspinall doesn't know if he will make it, but has not ruled out making it.
Speaking to OLBG, the fighter said: "My ego wants to go 'stick me on the card I'm good to go' but I need to think long term which I've not been doing and need to get everything right." said the Englishman
“I'm not ruling it out (fighting at UFC London). At the minute it's still like 14-15 weeks away. And at this point I've not done much heavy training. It's just been rehab really. But can I get ready in 14 weeks? The answer is yes. Will I be ready to start a title run in 14 weeks? I don't know. And if I don't know - that's not the answer I'm looking for. It's highly unlikely but not a complete no at this point.
“I can't afford for that [the injury] to happen again. I'm not talking about finances, I'm talking about my ego. My ego can't take that again. Me on my back, clutching onto my knee - it's just not going to happen again. There's just no chance I can let that happen again. The knee has to be one million percent. My ego wants to go 'stick me on the card I'm good to go' but I need to think long term which I've not been doing and need to get everything right.
“My dad doesnt want me on the card, it's as simple as that, my dad says don't be on the card. I should listen to him more.
Tom Aspinall refuses to rule out #UFC London fight as injury rehab continues https://t.co/rKrV9Wuxit pic.twitter.com/5k0mtXzap3
— Indy Sport (@IndySport) January 4, 2023
“I'm not kicking just yet, but I've been doing a bit of sparring and stuff. I can full-on wrestle now which is great. I literally started that this week. I'm looking to get signed off by the physio in 8-12 weeks, he reckons, completely signed off and back to full on training, I'm really happy with it all.
“I get asked every time I step out of the frigging house. Realistically I'd love to give someone a date when i'm coming back and be like 'yep this is when i'm coming back' but it's not as simple as that. It's not as easy as coming back on this date.
"Bodies are complicated and pretty big injuries like i've had, they're quite complex. So I can't say this is when i'm coming back, who knows, I might hurt the knee again. It might start swelling up again, you never know. When I feel ready I'll be back.
“There still is [doubt in my mind about the knee]. I want that to be gone because that's what I've been dealing with the last four or five years with this old injury. I've been dealing with 'I can't do this because of the knee and I can't do that'. I don't want to train or fight like that anymore. I want to fight free of that, that's why I'm not giving the comeback a time frame because I want that to be completely free before continuing with my career.
The heavyweight also took a swipe at Conor McGregor who is well known for his trash talking and anthics.
"Boring Conor McGregor is all talk and I don’t like the s*** talking," said the Aspinall
“Only he knows if he's got anything left to give, it does not really bother me. I liked Conor when he was really good. I just don't like the sh*t talking. I hate when there's loads of talk and nothing happens. It's like playground stuff, it gets boring. Am I bothered about Conor coming back? If he's fighting at a high level, yes, if he's not - I'm not bothered.”
The full interview can be found here
