UFC 321: Inside Tom Aspinall’s fight camp for his heavyweight title fight with Cyril Jean

Aspinall prioritizes sleep when he gets home after training, but for Andy, that’s when he mostly watches Jane’s fight footage.

“Tom keeps an eye on him too, but he doesn’t have any say in what we do for eight to 12 weeks,” Andy says.

Aspinall and his team respect Gene and know the nature of heavyweight mixed martial arts, where the tide of a fight can turn in an instant, meaning preparation can sometimes be thrown out the window.

“You never know what you’re doing outside of combat training, whether it’s successful or not, until you get into the fight, and then you don’t know what’s going to happen in the fight,” Andy says.

“I just think Tom has to train as best as he can and his body should be able to respond.”

Aspinall spent 19 months as interim champion awaiting an undisputed title fight with Jon Jones before the American retired.

In that period, Aspinall has defended the interim title once against Curtis Blaydes, 15 months ago.

Aspinall ended the interview by revealing that he would like to move up the heavyweight division again.

“I just want to be active. I think one of the things about the heavyweight champion is they haven’t been very active,” Aspinall said.

“So I would like to fight regularly. Two, three times a year, and keep the division moving.”