EXCLUSIVE
Tom Aspinall’s camp is envied by all of his MMA rivals.
The interim heavyweight champion is set to defend his title in an eagerly anticipated rematch with Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in Manchester on July 27.
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Their first fight in July 2022 ended in disaster after just 15 seconds when Aspinall suffered a devastating knee injury that kept him sidelined for a full year.
During his time away from fighting, the 31-year-old made a massive change to the way he trains and it paid dividends as he’s now one of the UFC’s biggest stars.
"I chose to train exclusively with heavyweights,” Aspinall said on the UFC 304 Countdown show.
"That is a massive for a big guy. There’s no workout harder than a big guy on top of you and trying to get them off.
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"It’s one of the hardest things you can do as a heavyweight, is to get another guy your size off of you repeatedly and have to grapple with them and strike with them.
"We still train with a couple of other guys for the speed and stuff. We try to keep the speed up and do some drills with smaller guys – but my sparring is only with heavyweights.
KSW heavyweight champion Phil De Fries is probably the most credentialed sparring partner Aspinall has, but he’s also training with UFC prospect Mick Parkin and ex-PFL titleholder Ante Delija.
More than 10 heavyweights can be on the mat together in Aspinall’s gym.
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That’s unheard of in MMA. Francis Ngannou’s coach knows just how hard it is to find big training partners and admits he’s jealous of what Aspinall has put together in the North of England.
“When you get heavyweights in the room it’s such a nice feeling to have because it’s rare to get four or five heavyweights together,” Erick Nicksick told talkSPORT MMA.
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“I’m friends with Aspinall, so I’ll watch Tom and his training, and almost admire how many big guys he has in the room.
“They’ve done a great job with the heavyweights over there.”
Those in the room are certainly feeling the benefits of Aspinall’s super camp.
De Fries is on a 13-fight win streak and running out of opponents worthy of challenging for his KSW title.
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“It’s great. You’re consistently putting in hard work with good people and that’s how you learn,” he said in a separate interview with talkSPORT's MMA YouTube channel.
“If your weaknesses are not getting exploited, you’re not going to improve as a fighter.
"As a heavyweight, you do quite good for yourself training with middleweights and crap heavyweights. You think you’re pretty good and then you get in a room with proper heavyweights and get your a*** kicked.
“There’s no growth in comfort.”
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Mick Parkin will fight Łukasz Brzeski on the undercard of UFC 304.
The Sunderland native has enjoyed preparing with the event’s co-headliner.
“They’ve got seven or eight giant guys from the UFC and PFL, Parkin told talkSPORT MMA.
“It’s amazing to have that many high-level guys. I haven’t been to that many gyms really, but Phil [De Fries] has been around and he’s like, ‘It’s probably one of the best mats in the world for heavyweight’.
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Modestas Bukauskas is also fighting this weekend. The former Cage Warriors light heavyweight champion has been working with Aspinall’s team to prepare for Marcin Prachnio.
The 6ft 3in Lithuanian isn’t used to being the smallest guy in the room but that’s how he felt in Aspinall’s heavyweight camp.
“It’s not usually me being the smallest on the mat, so that’s a very different feeling,” Bukauskas said.
“The fact I’m training with heavyweights, that definitely makes me feel like I’ll have an edge over my guy when we step in the cage.
“Tom is amazing. His speed, his accuracy. He’s the best fighter in the world.”
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Three fights and three wins is the goal for Aspinall and co. at UFC 304.
It seems like the MMA world is already admiring the work they are doing and now it’s time for the rest of the world to see what they have been working on in camp.