UFC undisputed heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has nine UFC fights under his belt. Five of those were main events, meaning a maximum of twenty-five minutes in the cage. Yet his total cage time in the UFC is less than twenty minutes! And in those main events, only man took him beyond the halfway mark of the first round – Alexander Volkov!

‘Drago’ was Aspinall’s first UFC main event, at the London Fight Night in March 2022. The Brit secured the win at 3:45 of the very first round via a straight armlock, handing Volkov his fourth UFC loss. The Russian has since bounced back and picked up some momentum. If not for Jon Jones’ prolonged inactivity and unwillingness to fight Aspinall, Alexander Volkov might have even had a title shot already. So, ahead of UFC 321, Tom Aspinall had to acknowledge Volkov’s claim to a title shot… but that’s not all he pulled back the curtain on.

Tom Aspinall reveals Alexander Volkov didn’t want to look like a freak show

Talking about the action in the heavyweight division, Catterall asked Aspinall how much the Russian has evolved since their fight, where he lost to him by unanimous decision. “He’s looked really good,” Tom Aspinall said without hesitation. “I knew how good he was when I was fighting him… I [know] he’s really good,” Aspinall added. Since his loss to the Brit, Volkov has picked up four wins between 2022 and 2024.

However, he suffered a controversial rematch defeat to Ciryl Gane in late 2024—his most recent outing. Still, Aspinall couldn’t resist revealing an interesting detail about the towering Russian. “He’s the tallest guy in the UFC, he’s 6’7″—that actually is untrue, he’s actually 6’9″,” Aspinall said, explaining how he came to know that tidbit. “His manager told me he didn’t want to seem like a freak show being 6’9″, but he’s 6’9″.”

Aspinall also acknowledged the advantages that come with such a frame. “He’s really tall, really rangy, loads of experience, done everything that there is apart from [winning] a UFC heavyweight title,” Aspinall said during the interview, before sharing the condition for a possible rematch. “I think that if he wins this fight, and I win my fight, it’s going to be a rematch on the card,” he revealed.

‘Drago’ is, of course, set to face Jailton Almeida on the Aspinall vs. Gane undercard—and a win there could set the stage for the rematch. “I think winner versus winner, either way it goes in both fights,” Aspinall concluded. For that to happen, though, he’ll need to handle his own business first—something he’s clearly confident about.

Tom Aspinall reveals ‘one big advantage’ over Ciryl Gane

The British champion, who hasn’t fought in over a year, claims that his limited Octagon time gives him a strategic edge over Gane and the heavyweight division. Boasting about the shortest average fight time among heavyweights, just over two minutes, Aspinall has rarely allowed opponents the chance to study him. 

“If I can go through my career and nobody is seeing me do anything, that’s ideal for me because each long fight, the opponent gets to see more and more,” Aspinall told RMC Sport. With a mere nine fights under his belt in the UFC, ‘Honey Badger’ claims there’s more to his abilities than the fans have seen from him during his fights. 

“People have only seen 10–20% of what I can actually do,” he added. “That’s a massive advantage.”

One can justify ring rust in any way they want to, but Tom Aspinall’s advantage could quickly turn into a disadvantage if he is not careful. And it would take away the possible rematch against Alexander Volkov. But will that be the case? Who do you think will win?