Unless a fighter’s injured, nobody wants to sit on the sidelines waiting for a fight to come, especially when you’re a champion. Tom Aspinall’s last fight was over a year ago, as the initial plans had him fighting Jon Jones sometime this year to unify the belts. Those plans were foiled, and after ‘Bones’ brief retirement, Aspinall got elevated to undisputed heavyweight champion status. Forget the fact that he already defended his interim belt once. According to Jon Anik, a lot is riding on the UFC 321 fight for the Englishman in his ‘initial’ undisputed title defense.

Tom Aspinall wanted to fight and win the undisputed title. But since that didn’t happen, the onus will be on him to show his mettle against Ciryl Gane, who Dana White claimed was the best heavyweight when he fought Jon Jones. Despite recording multiple first-round finishes in his UFC run, Aspinall still has a lot to do to carve his legacy in the UFC now that he’s a champion, and ahead of UFC 321, Jon Anik gave him a reality check.

Tom Aspinall cannot drop the ball at UFC 321

Jon Anik, who will be commentating at UFC 321, believes that Tom Aspinall is perhaps in one of the most precarious spots, given that there’s a weight of expectation on a fighter who is regarded as someone that Jon Jones didn’t want to fight. “12 days until one of the biggest pressure spots in UFC history, as Tom Aspinall makes the first defense of his undisputed heavyweight title in Abu Dhabi,” Anik wrote on X.

Defending the title is one thing, but for Tom Aspinall, there’s another thing he needs to prove. The fandom scrutiny is high, and the Englishman will have to address that with his performance. The circumstances of his elevation from the interim champion to the undisputed champion also don’t help Aspinall, because he didn’t fight for it. This fight against Ciryl Ganewill not only shape his status as a champion going forward but also reshape the heavyweight landscape.

Winning alone may not cut it for Aspinall. Since he could not fight or beat Jon Jones, the next best thing for him would be to go down as the fighter Jon Jones ducked. He will have to dominate Gane, maybe even better than Jones did. ‘Bones’ exploited Gane’s weakness in the grappling department to secure a first-round submission win. But it’s unlikely that Aspinall takes the fight to the ground.

For someone who dips his hands in petrol to condition them, he’ll be looking for the KO as usual. That’s where it gets tricky. Gane has a diverse striking arsenal. He’s perhaps the only other heavyweight that moves like a much lighter fighter. So, if Aspinall leaves even a shred of doubt with his performance, that is ammunition for Jones.

Plus, the looming spectre of the UFC White House card for June 2026 adds to the pressure. A win could land Aspinall on the card against Alex Pereira or Jon Jones. A loss kills that opportunity for good.

The pressure is on, but Tom Aspinall has a knack for rising to the occasion. In 2023, after suffering a knee injury in the only fight he’s lost in the UFC in the previous year, the 32-year-old came back with a thunderous knockout victory. However, he recently revealed that things weren’t easy when he was nursing his injury. Here’s what he had to say.

Aspinall reveals having a tough time dealing with his knee injury

The heavyweight champion claims that he knew there was something wrong with his knee, but decided to fight Curtis Blaydes anyway. It was a big step up for him at that time since ‘Razor’ is a perennial top contender in the division. But when he stepped inside the Octagon against his former rival, Aspinall’s knee buckled after a failed attempt to land a kick on Blaydes.

Admitting that he miscalculated his move to go ahead and fight Curtis Blaydes, Aspinall told TNT Sports, “I knew that I had a bad knee years before. I knew it was getting worse. I just wanted the fight to be over. I just wanted to blast him out of there as quick as possible, and you shouldn’t go into any fight feeling like that.” This injury really affected Aspinall mentally, as it planted seeds of doubt in the English about his future in the sport.

“There were long drawn-out bouts of feeling in a really dark place… To be honest, before the injury, I was half in the sport and half out. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to carry on,” Aspinall added. Well, he overcame one obstacle; now it’s time to do the same at UFC 321. Another first-round KO win will certainly cement his status as the top dog in the division, but a loss will be a pretty costly one. Let us know what you think in the comments down below.