EXCLUSIVE
Tom Aspinall’s world-class potential was first spotted by his father.
The British mixed martial arts star became the interim heavyweight champion by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 in New York last November.
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Aspinall’s journey to the top of his sport started 19 years ago when his dad walked away from a lucrative job to help harness his son’s athletic ability and eventually open a Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) school.
“I did 25 years in IT,” Andy Aspinall told talkSPORT.com.
"I was a contractor for a long time making good money and then I was an IT manager.
“I got offered a redundancy payment that I didn’t have to take, but Tom was very good at jiu-jitsu and there weren’t many jiu-jitsu schools open.
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“I just decided to teach jiu-jitsu and hoped that Tom at 12, and my other son at 9, would teach jiu-jitsu because they’d have a career then.”
It was a bold move, but one that worked out as Andy’s eldest is now one of the UFC’s biggest stars, and his other son, Joe, makes a living teaching BJJ.
He added: “I had some money then, so it was alright. I’m glad I did it.
“Not just for Tom’s fighting. I’m glad I did it because I didn’t like the environment [in my old job]. I don’t like politics and I like the quiet life. This has been the quiet life.”
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However, Aspinall’s long journey to the pinnacle of MMA wasn’t without its hiccups and he needed a helping hand to push through when times got tough.
From training in his back garden to changing sports and overcoming injuries, the 31-year-old contender dealt with a multitude of issues but managed to overcome them with the help of his father.
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“A couple of times he’d given up,” Andy admitted.
“He didn’t want to fight MMA because there were no opponents.
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"He didn’t want to train at the gym because it was too far to go every day and he didn’t want to do it because there was no one to train or fight with.
“We went boxing and he had one pro fight.
“And then, he didn’t want to fight because he didn’t like the boxing model. He didn’t want to fight people and get a padded-out record, he wanted to fight people who were equal to him.
"So, he stopped boxing.”
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Despite his rocky road to the UFC, Aspinall’s dad insists he always knew his son had elite-level athletic ability and would ultimately reach the pinnacle of his chosen sport.
During his rise to become a UFC champion, he has seen off big names in Alexander Volkov and Andrei Arlovski.
“He was 12,” Aspinall Sr. proudly replied after being asked exactly when he knew his son had world champion potential.
“He used to win lots of jiu-jitsu competitions, so I just knew he could be really good at something where you take instruction.
"It could’ve been Rugby League. It could’ve been a range of sports and it just happened to be MMA.”
It was a proud moment when Aspinall KO'd Pavlovich in 69 seconds before dedicating his title with to his father, who was reeling from a recent personal loss.
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"It was great that he won, but the whole occasion was a bit rushed," Andy said.
"Should he have taken it? It turned out good, so everything is alright.
"It was emotional for me because my dad watched the Marcin Tybura fight with us and said, ‘You’ll beat that guy and then you will win the title’.
"And then my dad sadly passed away. So that was raw at the time and I thought of my dad then - but it was really good."
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Andy will be in his son's corner when he defends the belt against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in Manchester on Saturday night.
Much has been made about the fact Aspinall will fight in the early hours of Sunday morning, but his father thinks it won't be an issue after seeing how he dealt with his old job as a bouncer.
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Andy concluded: "In terms of Tom fighting and getting used to the timescale, he worked the doors for five years and came home at 6am.
"So hopefully he can go to bed all day if he wants to sleep all day. He’ll be fine."